Battle Academy of Magic
by Mapotofuu
Summary: An Original FanFiction
1. The Fated Meeting

RING RING RINGGG

*Huh? What time is it?*

I opened my eyes wearily. Over 10 years has passed since _that_ incident. However I still have not forgotten it. I look over at my clock. 8:20am. I then proceed to dress myself sloppily and then I headed for the bathroom. As I walked towards the bathroom, I looked over at the calendar.

*Huh? April...1st? Isn't that...?*

I widened my eyes in realization. I rush back into my room and looked at the time. 8:24am. I quickly whip on my school uniform, grab my essentials, and rushed out of the room.

*Six minutes, six minutes, six...no, five minutes now. I can still make it. Go go go!*

Ignoring the looks I'm getting from both sides of the street, I rushed down towards the Academy. Today was the day of the written entrance exam as well as the physical examination test.

*Phew, I finally arrived.*

I glanced at the giant screen at the entrance of the school, which displayed the time, date, and recent/general news regarding the school.

*Wait. WHAAAAAT?*

So it seems, my alarm clock back at home was late by an hour, and the time now is actually 9:29. I groan internally to myself, hating myself for not buying a better alarm clock. I quickly shake myself out of my reverie when I heard a voice shout at me.

"Oi! You over there! Are you coming for the entrance exam?"

I quickly nodded my head. I saw his face scrunch up into an ugly scowl, and the next thing I knew, he was standing right in front of me, his face only centimeters away from my own. (A giant dust cloud seemed to have suddenly appeared behind him. Did he really kick up that much dust...? Holy...how fast did he travel?) He slowly breathed into my face as he glared at me.

"Damn. It. You. Piece. Of. SHIIIITTTTT!"

He grabbed the scruff of my neck roughly and dragged me with inhuman speed towards the gym of the school. (I could have swore my legs were fluttering like a flag as he dragged me) Just as we arrived, I saw a beautiful looking teacher wearing an attractively tight skirt with a simple button up shirt, all of which concealed under a large white coat, leave and lock up the gymnasium.

"Mika sensei, are the physical examinations over?"

"Oh, Akum- I mean Hiretsu sensei. Yes, we're just about finished. Who is this with you?" (To clarify, Hiretsu sensei is often referred to as Akuma sensei for being a demon of a teacher.)

"Ah, this idiot came late. Is it possible for him to still take the physical examination?"

"Well...I would allow it but the written examinations are starting in...5 minutes. So I'm sorry but you'll just have to do without the physical examinations test..."

*Wait. What? No, this can't be possible. When first year students are being chosen by squads, these physical examination marks/rankings mean everything! The higher your ranking, the higher the chance you'll be able to get into a good squad. Only the worse of the worse ignore the physical examination because they know they'll do badly anyways! I don't want to be placed in a bad squad! I -*

"Hey, don't be so stressed out. The Physical examination is important, I agree, but you're forgetting that there's still the First-Year Battle Royale where you'll be allowed to show your skills. Don't be too concerned, you'll do fine. On the other hand, you only have 2 minutes left to get to the written examination room..."

*Ah...what a nice teacher...she smells nice too. Damn, look at those c-c-curves! -whistle- She's totally my type. Man if I-*

I was suddenly shaken out of my ecchi daydream by Hiretsu sensei who suddenly grabbed me by my ear and dragged me with his inhuman speed towards the school itself.

Anyhow, more importantly, my name is Kazuki. Kazuki Yoshi. I am 175 centimeters tall, fairly well built, with messy, black hair and two caramel coloured eyes. I always carry around a special looking cross with me although I don't remember why anymore. I'm currently being dragged towards the second part of my high school entrance exam. I'm currently 15 years old and am living on Earth right now. My father has gone missing, presumably dead, while my mother is dead. I'm currently living in the high school dorms and am working a part time job to earn my living money. I guess you could call me normal, but I've been training myself since that day 10 years ago. Now, you may be wondering why I mentioned the fact that I was living on Earth. It's obvious right? Wrong. The current year is year XXXX, and technology has evolved to the point where humans can live just about anywhere in space now. Thus, the universe became divided into 6 sections. Each section took shape of a square-based, triangular prism, with the tips of the triangles meeting at one point known as the Hole; a dimensional gap where all Beasts originate. The source of all evil if you will. Also, each section is then further divided into 4 sub-sectors, totalling up to a total of 24 different sectors of the universe. Each sub-sector has several planets inside, most of which are inhabited by humans. I'm currently living on the worst planet, known as Earth. Furthermore, all students must attend an Academy. Usually, planets would have multiple academies but Earth only has one. The Military Academy of Practical Magic. That is the school I'm going to attend. The only other planet to only have one academy is Magnus Stella Erratica. The entire planet is basically a huge academy, and it is the host of the Universal Military Academy of Magic; the best academy in the universe.

DING~~ DONG~~

"Alright students, everyone put their pencils down!"

"Hai Mika sensei~" Everyone said. Despite my slightly late arrival to the exam, I felt like I did a fairly good job on the exam. Feeling confident and content with what I just did, I packed up my belongings and began to leave.

"Hey, uhh...Kazuki Yoshi was it? Why are you leaving?"

I turned around to see Mika sensei staring at me questioningly.

"Umm...Mika sensei?"

I looked helplessly at her feeling extremely confused. Peoples eyes began focus their attention on me.

"Haha, Kazuki Yoshi, did you not read the entrance exam manual at all?"

I looked down at my feet in shame, a deep blush covered my face as I shook my head.

"Well, the exam is in 3 parts. Your physical examination, where your physical stats are measured and ranked. The written exam, to test out your intelligence. And finally, the Battle Royale! During the written examination, your physical examination results will be instantly processed by the school system to be displayed on the big screen during the Battle Royale."

"I-I-I thought the Battle Royale took place on another day...?"

*What a terrifyingly powerful school system they have...to be able to process so many pieces of data so quickly...terrifying indeed.*

"No Kazuki Yoshi, you've clearly been misled. The Battle Royale is today in the afternoon, after lunch! Anyways, it's time to go to the Battle Royale briefing and team selection. Good luck and hurry up or you'll be late again!"

"O-oh, okay! Thank you!"

As I rushed down the empty hallway to catch up with the crowd of students that had already left the room, I thought to myself:

*Huh...I think I'm starting to get this. It was...what? The Physical Exam first? Right, right. Then the Written Exam, Battle Royale briefing, lunch, and...uh...then the Battle Royale? Man, what a crazy schedule...*

The briefing room, or should I say auditorium, was a large, oval shaped room. It was brightly lit, with several benches descending downwards to a large stage. Behind the stage, was a large, beautifully white wall. As I entered the briefing room, I was shocked by the sheer number of students in the room. There must've been at least a good hundred or so packed in the briefing room. Everybody seemed to have a friend, and were busy chatting about battle tactics and their latest techniques and skills.

"Yo man, I gotta show y'all ma new move man, it's like the sickest thing ever, man! What you do is you gotta open up your left side and then as they hit you, you gotta like, turn and bash 'em with your elbow man! It's pretty sick, man! But you gotta get like the timing right! Also..."

*Huh...Isn't that just a simple elbow counter? What's he so pumped up about...*

"Heey, so like, my dad recently bought me a shinai and I'm like, toootally looking forward to using it! My dad, like, told me that I have talent. I mean, how could I not right? Haha! I'm like, totally perfect right?"

*Hmph. So there's always that one, self-centered girl surrounded by her pet boys eh? Typical. Except there's nothing so special about a shinai...I don't understand why she's so excited...*

As I walked down the gentle staircase, I eavesdropped on several conversations; think of it like getting to know your opponent a little better before the Battle Royale right? Except nothing really bothered me. All I've heard on my way down were people talking about simple counters, strikes, new weapons, etc. I didn't even hear anybody talking about magic, which shocked me. Shouldn't we all have at least some basic understanding of magic by now...?

"Ahem. Testing, testing. Hi? Hi. Hello everybody. Please find a seat. The briefing shall now begin."

As the lights dimmed, I quicked picked a seat to my right, right beside the aisle. I sat down quietly, noticing that to my right, sat a slim and fragile looking figure cloaked in a hood. I quickly reverted my vision back at the front of the auditorium as a large projected screen appeared on the wall behind the instructor. The screen displayed a fairly large, circular map and a series of machines and descriptions towards the side.

"Alright everybody, listen up. As you can see, this will be the map of the Battle Royale. It may seem slightly small on the screen, but the diameter of this map is actually 20 kilometers wide."

A general gasp could be heard from the crowd. I was slightly shocked myself, wondering how it would be possible to find people in such a large area. Especially near the end when there aren't that many people left...

"You may be wondering, "How is it possible to find other people in such a large map?" Well I'll answer that question now so pay attention. What you are seeing is a map we have placed in an alternate dimension. We call it the VT dimension. Or Virtual Dimension. What will happen is that each time someone is killed, the map will shrink accordingly so that it will be more likely than possible for people to find each other."

*Wait. Hold up. Did she just say, "killed"?*

A slight murmur rose from the crowd. Everybody seemed to have picked up on it as well. I certainly hope this isn't going to turn out like those mangas I've read, where everyone has to kill each other until only one remains standing...

"Ho ho ho, not to worry. The reason why we've made you fight in the VT dimension is because of 2 main reasons: 1) We do not have enough space in reality to let you fight, and we also need absolute control over the environment to ensure absolute safety. Also, 2) So that you guys can kill each other but still remain perfectly safe. What do I mean? Well, each of you will be placed into a sleep tank, and your consciousness will be transferred over to the VT world to fight. Your bodies will be scanned in the sleep tank so that your body in the VT world will be exactly the same, and will have the exact same potentials as your real body. To sum up, what you'll be fighting will aren't your real bodies, so it's perfectly safe for all of you to fight, bludgeon and slaughter each other to death. Ho ho ho"

*Ho...ho...ho...? That laugh...um...Why do I have a bad feeling about this?*

The murmur seemed to have died away, but everyone still remained tense. I looked around and saw several people fidgeting nervously.

*What is this feeling of unease I'm feeling? It's as if all the hairs on my body are standing up. Ugh, this feels terrible.*

"Ho ho ho...well I forgot to mention. All of you will still retain your sense of...pain. So if you get stabbed, you WILL feel the pain of getting stabbed. Of course, safety precautions have been set so that if you feel behind X level of pain, your conscious stream will be forcefully cut off and you'll be forced out of gameplay even if you haven't died. This is just a safety measure to make sure that the pain won't be too much for you, resulting in mental health issues. Other stats will be measured, such as your physical status, mental status, etc. Other status bars have been set to cut off your conscious stream all for the sake of your safety. This way, there'll be no need to hold back when trying to kill someone. We try to make the experience as realistic as possible right? As children say these days, no pain no fun! Oh, and one last reminder: Your main objective is to survive, and to do that, you need teamwork. That's all! Have fun you guys!"

*No pain no fun...? What are you? A masochist? We don't say that...I don't think anyone of any age group's ever said that either...*

So it seems, the general feeling of fear has finally gotten to the bulk of the crowd. The fear of feeling the pain of death seems to be overwhelming for a lot of them. Large murmurings could be heard all around the room. I quickly took a peek all around me, making note of those who aren't fidgeting and are completely relaxed. Those are usually the ones to look out for.

*1..2..6.. I'd say there are 15 of the hundred(ish) here that seem to act confidently. Better keep an eye out for them.*

As my eyes slowly went around the room, they ended up on the hooded figure to my right.

*Interesting, this person isn't fidgeting at all. At least as far as I can tell...*

Right at that moment, the hooded figure suddenly lifted up her face and my train of thought was abruptly cut off when I was taken aback by her beauty. Despite her slim figure, her face was beautifully sculpted and her eyes were clear and crisp but also seemingly infinitely deep. Her hair was nice, long, silky, smooth, …, and black. However, not the solid kind of black that would hit you like a brick wall but the nice, fluffy kind of black that gave you a nice, warm feeling. As I was staring shamelessly at her, I finally noticed that she had turned around to look at me.

As she glowered at me, she asked, "What are you looking at?"

I almost lost myself when I heard her beautiful, crisp voice. It sounded like a songbird, not to shrill nor not too deep. Simply took your breath away. In my dazed position, I almost forgot to respond.

"Oh..uh..haha sorry about that. By the way, I'm Kazuki. Kazuki Yoshi."

"Hmph. Don't get so friendly with me. You're just trying to make me lower my guard aren't you? So you can take me out right at the beginning. Don't even try."

It took everything I had to stop myself from crawling under the bench and crying.

*What a dangerous girl, she almost destroyed me there. I gotta be more careful.*

"...But you don't seem like a bad guy. I guess I'll trust you for now. My name is Akemi Atsuko."

Once again, I almost cried from joy. What a kind girl. Mother, I love life. It's so beautiful. Thank you God, thank you, thank you, thank you...

"Um...Yoshi-san? Why are you praying?"

*Ara? What is she talking...oh shi-.*

It seemed as if my euphoria has caused my body to unconsciously adopt a praying position. I quickly got up and dusted myself off, a deep blush on my face.

"Ah..hahaha...it's nothing. Nothing at all."

I scratched the back of my head nervously as I smiled crookedly at her, hoping she won't realize.

"Hmph, you're weird."

*Skadoosh. The pain. Unbearable.*

"But you're also funny. By the way, I hate honorifics. Just call me by my first name. Call me Akemi."

"W-w-w-what are you talking about? I could n-n-never do th-"

She pouted at me, bent over slightly, placed her hands on her hips, and said, "Akemi. A-ke-mi."

In a small voice, I stuttered "A-a-a-ak-k-akemi-san."

She remained pouting for a moment, and the finally broke it by smiling gently at me, "Okay Kazuki-san!"

I blushed lightly, and stuttered again, "u...u...un!"

"Haha, you stutter a lot don't you?"

"N-n-n-no! That's a lie!"

"Haha you did it again!"

"Mhhhm! Shush."

I pouted slightly.

"Ah, don't be so stiff. Anyways, let's go eat lunch together! I know a good place!"

I broke into a smile, "Okay!"

"Phwaaaah~" I sighed as we settled ourselves down on the rooftop. "The cafeteria is really full isn't it?"

Akemi nodded silently as she dug into her yakisoba bread.

"I was really surprised that we were both able to get the yakisoba bread despite arriving late to the cafeteria. Haha, talk about being lucky!"

"Hey, I've been wondering..."

"What?"

"...were you at the physical examination this morning? I don't recall seeing you..."

I almost choked on my bread and I spluttered, "Gak, ah, right. That. So it turns out, my alarm clock decided to stop working sometime this morning... Basically, I got to school by 9:30 or so."

"My utmost condolences." She said sarcastically, "That often happens to me too, but my parents usually just come to wake me up. Don't your parents come to wake you up if you're going to be late...?"

I stopped eating and looked down at the bread in my hands. My eyes turned glassy as I recalled the events from 10 years ago. My face turned slightly pale as my hands started to gently shake.

She seemed to have noticed that she's stepped onto a landmine, and she quickly said, "Ah...um...it's okay if you don't reply. It's my fault for prying into your private life..."

"Mhhm, it's okay." I said.

*Might as well tell her...no point in hiding it.*

"I'll tell you anyways. It happened 10 years ago. My father got possessed by a beast and he came home late that day..."

Her eyes widened in shock, her mouth opened slightly but no words came out.

"...then as we, my family, were having dinner, the Beast killed my mother."

I gripped my bread tightly, gritting my teeth and spitting out my words now.

"The Beast ate my mother. All that's left her the grave is her left arm, with her wedding ring still on. The Beast then proceeded to attempt to kill me. Everything was slightly blurry, but I recall running out of my house and onto the street, then collapsing. My vision started to flicker as my consciousness began to fade away."

I was shaking more so now and my yakisoba bread was crushed in my hands. A single droplet of perspiration rolled down my face and dripped onto the dry, dusty roof.

"When my vision gave way, I could hear the Beast closing in. I'm not sure what had happened next but I'm sure I was saved by someone. The last thing I recall hearing was him telling me something...but I'm not really sure anymore..."

I vision got blurry as I felt a wave of nausea overtake my senses. Then, all of a sudden, I felt a nice, cool hand cover my own. It held my hands tightly. My vision started to clear and the nausea faded away. I saw that Akemi had placed her own hand on top of mine.

I turned around, laughing fakely, "Haha...sorry. I kinda lost myself there..."

When I saw Akemi's face, I was shocked to see that she was crying.

"A-a-ara? Why are you c-c-crying? U-um...uh...there there? It's going to be okay?"

Akemi then proceeded to bury her face in my shoulder and said in a quiet voice, "I'm sorry."

I smiled gently as I patted her head, "It's okay, I'm fine now right? It's alright."

I looked at the large screen at the front gate. Squinting, I saw that only 10 minutes remained for lunch.

"Hey Akemi-san, there's only 10 minutes left! We need to hurry!"

Akemi quickly removed her face from my should and dried her face. Then proceeded in shoving the remainder of her yakisoba bread in her mouth. I did the same as well. After swallowing, Akemi suddenly said,

"Hey, do you want to be my partner?"

"W-w-what d-d-do you m-m-mean? P-p-partner?" My face turned beet red as my eyes widened staring at her.

As she realized what I had interpreted what she had said as, she blushed deeply to, and while waving both hands in front of her with outstretched arms, she quickly replied, "Idiot! No, that's not what I meant! I meant my partner for the Battle Royale in...5 minutes! We better leave now. I'll tell you on the way there."

The two of us got up and began to run down the staircase to the Battle Room.

"So...*pant*...what did you say? Something about... *pant* ...being partners?"

"Yeah...*pant*...so basically, you are allowed to... *pant* …pick one other person and one other person only... *pant* …to be your partner, your ally, in the Battle Royale."

"Wait, so it's not a everyone-for-themselves kind of thing?"

"Nope. *pant* you didn't read the entrance exam booklet did you? *pant* No wonder you don't know."

"Haha...my bad."

"So...you haven't answered my question yet. Are you alright with me being your partner? I can say now I'm not really that strong...I just know a little healing magic."

I almost tripped and fell when she said she knew how to use a little healing magic. Healing magic was by far one of the hardest magics, and it required large amounts of talent to perform. To be able to perform healing magic at her young age, there's no doubt she was going to be a well known magician when she grows up.

"Y-y-you know how to use healing magic? THAT'S AMAZING."

"Oh...um...t-thanks haha. Wait. Stop avoiding my question! Will you be my partner despite me not being able to fight?"

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to avoid your question... And yes, definitely. It'd be my pleasure to be your partner! And plus, I'm not that weak myself, I DO know a little fighting magic here and there..."

I beamed and winked mysteriously at her.

She blushed slightly and looked away from me. "Hmph. What's with the cliched wink..." Then she turned back and faced the floor in front of her and said in a quiet voice, "But I'm glad you could be my partner..."

I smiled and continued to run beside her.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

"This is an announcement to all first year entrance exam students, you have 2 minutes to get to the Battle Room. That's 2 minutes. Thank you."

"Yare yare, we better hurry." I said. "By the way, what happens if you have no partner?"

"If you have no partner, you're randomly paired up with someone else."

"Ah...I see. So was that what you were afraid of?"

"S-s-shut up!"

I laughed and proceed to ask, "What if the total amount of entrees is odd? There's bound to be one-"

"Then they'll randomly place the last person into a pair, making a group of 3. You talk too much, we've got about a minute left to get there."

"Haha, you're right." I stretched out my hand towards her. "Here, hold my hand, it'll be faster. I promise."

She looked skeptically at my hand at first, then reluctantly placed her hand in mine. In an instant, I pulled her towards me and and swept her up into the princess carry.

"A-a-ah! What are you doing? Ahh!"

She batted at my face with her tiny fists as she kicked violently, trying to get off.

"Gah, pfft, ack! Stop moving! I'm trying to get there on time you know!"

I slowed down to a stop, then placed myself into a lunging position. Akemi noticed that something was happening, and stopped fighting to get off. She focused her vision towards my feet, where a circle of weird characters appeared around my feet. A dim light emitted itself through the circle. Several other circles of characters then appeared around my feet, rippling, changing, and distorting the air around it. A slight rumbling could be heard as air started picking up front underneath me.

"Accel." I whispered. My whisper seemed to echo and ripple all around the surrounding area, and a dust cloud appeared around us. In an instant, the surround environment around us disappeared and everything turned into a blur. I raced through the hallways with an inhuman speed that could match against Mr. Hiretsu's speed. Within seconds, we had arrived at the Battle Room. We passed through the gates just as they were about to close.

"Made it~" I said, grinning broadly.

Akemi could only stare blankly at me, shocked at what had just happened.

She thought, W-w-who is he...?

She looked up at my grinning face, and suddenly blushed.

*W-was he always this cute?*

As I turned my head to look at her face, she quickly looked away and pouted.

"G-good job."

"Thanks Princess~"

As the doors slammed shut behind us, I continued smiling as I thought,

*Huh...maybe today will turn out to be a good day after all...*

A shadow hidden from behind a pillar slipped silently away.

"Fufufu...what an interesting couple..."


	2. Chapter 0: Prologue - That incident

(The content in this chapter is less important, so feel free to skip it. ~Mofuu)

Rain poured down from the dark gray clouds. It was 6:00am in the morning and and the sun had not fully risen yet. The sky was dark and a heavy atmosphere hung in the air. The cemetery smelt damply of grass with a faint, sweet aroma coming from the flowers placed on the grave. I stood, alone, in front of the grave, my shoulders soaked and stiff from the cold, morning rain. My head hung limply from my neck as tears continued to stream from my eyes.

"I miss you, mother."

Not even a week has passed since it had happened. That terrible night 6 days ago, when my father became possessed by a Beast and murdered my mother. That terrible night when I lost everything; my family, my home, my life. Father had come home that day a little later than usual, which was unusual of him since he is always very punctual. He didn't talk much that evening. I thought he acted a little weird, but mother just laughed it off saying that it was just his job. As mother and I talked, father suddenly stood up behind mother. His head hung limply at an awkward angle when suddenly his chest split open and a large, gruesome looking spider leg shot forwards and pierced through mother's chest, splattering my face with blood and gore. The spider leg then continued and dragged mother's limp body towards father. Mother's body slowly disappeared into the gap in father's chest, breaking in awkward parts in order to fit into the small gap. Her arm snapped off and landed in a puddle of blood at father's feet. Everything felt surreal. I remembering father approaching me, me getting up and running, the dark silhouette under the lonely looking lamppost. Everything suddenly went black.

"You did well to survive kid."

"Un."

I could feel hot, sloppy tears stream down my face as I lay on the cold, hard sidewalk.

"Do you regret it? How weak you are?"

"Un."

More tears continued to stream down my face.

"Then train yourself. Train yourself and make yourself stronger. Strong enough to protect your friends and all those whom you hold dear. If it's you, you can do it. However, will you do it?"

"..."

"Hmph. No matter, the choice is yours. However, remember one thing: There are many kinds of people. There are people who gain strength for popularity and there are people who gain strength for their own self-satisfaction. However, the strongest kind of strength is strength born from a will to protect. Anyways, that's all. Just a piece of advice kid: Avoid meaningless fights and above all, survive."

His footsteps echoed and slowly faded away. The gentle pitter-patter of rain slowly began to fade away as well. I felt my consciousness slowly slip away.

"Who was he...?" I thought before everything went quiet.


	3. The Battle Royale

The Battle Room was brightly lit but was relatively small. Packed in it, were about 100 first year high school entree students. Within them, was me. My name is Kazuki. Kazuki Yoshi. I am currently 15 years old and I am aiming to attend Earth's very own military Academy. Earth's military academy trains teenagers like us how to fight and use magic. There are many other planets located throughout the universe that are now inhabited by humans. All the other planets have academies too, and they too will teach their students magic and fighting. Anyways, coming back to Earth, I am currently standing in the middle of a large crowd for first year entrees. Holding my hand, standing beside me, was a stunning looking girl. She wore the school's uniform and a small, tattered cape with a hood around her. The hood lay limply on her back as her long, silky hair flowed around her shoulders. Her name was Akemi Atsuko, and she was the very first student to have talked to me upon my arrival to the school. She is a very nice girl, a little awkward, but I'm not really the one be to talking. Currently, standing at the front of the room, stood two teachers. The two teachers stood at opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to charisma. The one that stood in the back, Ms. Mika, was a beautiful, smart, and basically perfect teacher whom all students mutually dubbed, "Tenshi". (Or Angel). Meanwhile, the loud, brawdy teacher standing in front yelling at us right now, is named Mr. Hiretsu. Or should I say, Akuma Sensei. He is very well known even amongst neighbouring planets as the demon teacher, who had the inhuman ability to hunt you down no matter where you are. If he wants to do it, he WILL do it. May students have fallen prey to him already only to end up in mental hospitals... *shudder* ...In fact, I almost fell prey to him this morning when I arrived late.

"OI! KAZUKIDIOT! ARE YOU LISTENING?"

"H-huh?" I quickly shook my head and came out of my day dream. "Y-Yes Akum- I mean Hiretsu Sensei!"

"Che...what do you mean Akuma...whatever. I'll get to yer whiney face later. Alrrrright you filthy lookin' first yerrs, listen up." Mr. Hiretsu growled away will rolling the "r"s. "When you've found yer partner, take them to a team room where y'all be placed into sleep capsules."

A long arm shot up beside me from inside the crowd.

*Uwahh...tall. That guy must be at least 185 something centimeters tall! What long limbs... and what an attractive face! Blond hair? A foreigner? He must be popular... He must be the real deal...wait! He was one of the guys who weren't nervous during the briefing. He's someone I should keep a lookout for...*

"Akuma sensei~ what happens if you don't have a partner?"

I felt like I just got hit by a brick.

*Are you serious? Maybe...maybe...could it be? Was this guy not nervous at the briefing only because he's a...a...a complete airhead?*

"Huuuuuuh? Punk. Are yer pickin' a fight? Yer 10 yars too damned early. Yer still smell'er yer mother's breast milk."

Dooooooon. A general silence enveloped the crowd.

*Uhh...is that really what a teacher should be saying...?*

"Oh no no, sorry Aku- Hiretsu sensei~ I wasn't intending to pick a fight with you. I just don't have a partner yet and nobody else is available~"

"Che." Mr. Hiretsu spat. Then our eyes met and I saw a demonic smile cross his face. He snickered. "Well problem solved young 'un. You'll be paired up with Mr. Idiot right beside you."

*Oh I see. Wait. Huh? Is he saying...*

"ME?!"

"Fwahaha! Yeah, damn right it's you. Serves the two 'er you fer being annoying. A'ight, that's all. A few last notices in case yer didn't read the exam booklet like Mr. Idiot: Time passes faster in the VT world than it does in real life, so several days could take place in the span of only a few hours. However I'd sergest yer all to get on will killin' each other off. Pisses me off when y'all babies cry around and refuse to fight. Ya hear me? I'll kill yer if yer don't fi-"

*SMACK*

We all looked in awe as we say Ms. Mika drag off the unconscious Mr. Hiretsu to the commanding room. Before she closed the door, she turned back with a surprised expression and asked, "Huh? Why are all of you still hanging around? You can go into your rooms now you know?"

*Ara?*

In the next 20 seconds, about a hundred teenagers flooded into the room and bustled into separate attachment rooms. I almost lost sight of Akemi; thank God I was still holding onto her hand from getting into the Battle Room. Aaand of course, who could ever lose sight of the towering, blond giant of an air head. When we were all gathered into our room, the 3 of us, Akemi and I introduced ourselves to the tall, blond giant. In return, he told us that his name was Kyle Smith, and that he was from England. We also exchanged information about our powers, and much like how I reacted, Kyle was also baffled that Akemi knew healing magic. I told them that I could use up to Accel Level 3, and Kyle told us he was a multi-magic user; That is, he is capable of Accel Level 1 and Burst Level 2. Akemi seems to know less about magic, and she asked,

"Um...I know this may be a dumb question, but what do you mean Accel Level 3 and Burst Level 2? There are levels...?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Kyle responded, "Levels measure how strong your magic is. The higher the number, the more powerful your magic is."

I asked, "I'm assuming you don't know what level your healing magic is then?"

She blushed and quickly said, "Naah, sorry."

"Hey guys, I think we better get into our sleep capsules now."

"Alright guys! Let's do our best!"

We each slipped into our own capsules and pulled the lid over which sealed it shut. The moment the lid sealed itself, everything went pitch black for a moment. Then, a slight whirring could be heard and a small, dim screen appeared. It said, "Scanning..." for a few seconds, then changed to, "Scanning Complete." "Initiating Setup Basics..." "Setup Basics Complete." "Safety Discontinuities..." "Safety Discontinuities Complete." "Link Connection..." "Connected."

Then the next feeling was the weirdest feeling ever. It was as if you're getting sucked into the screen, but your body remained still. The world distorted enormously as colours started popping up randomly. Little hexagon shaped polygons floated all around us en masse until everything whipped up into a tornado. A forest formed all around us except right under us, in which a silver looking platform appeared. The next thing I knew, I was laying face down on the silver ground beside a sitting Akemi and a groaning Kyle.

"Never again...please...I'm going to vom-" Kyle said before he vomited virtually.

"Eww..." Akemi said, "Here, let me get rid of your nausea."

Akemi raised her hands and placed them on both sides of Kyle's head, one on top of each ear. Then, she proceeded in whispering, "Heal".

A small ring of light and characters appeared around Akemi and Kyle as the wind swirled around the two of them calmly. It was as if songbirds came out of nowhere, and the sound of music filled my ears. A warm feeling swept over me as the smell of roses floated in the air, and-

In an instant, everything stopped. Akemi dusted herself off, and asked, "Better?"

Kyle could only stare in awe at Akemi, and nodded slowly with a blank expression.

"Now then", Akemi said, "It's time to get going guys. Remember, the battle has already started. First, we shall go find a water source and some food."

As we trudged through the woods, Akemi proceeded in explaining several things about the First Year Battle Royale.

"So, let's get started with explaining some things. First of all, try saying, "System Display"."

As she said that, a small screen appeared a comfortable distance away from her face. The screen currently displayed a map of the area and their current location.

"As you can see, the default screen will display a map with the locations of you and all the members of your team. That way, even if you get separated, you'll be able to see each other's location. Furthermore, watch this: "System Message All.""

A small screen appeared in front of each of us, displaying the other two party member's faces.

"As you can see, this command allows us to communicate to each other even when separated. To contact all of us, use the 'All' command. To communicate to each other individually, just replace 'All' with the target's name. You can only communicate to your own teammates. To close the window, just say 'System Message End.'"

The window suddenly disappeared from sight. Akemi then continued to explain how to manipulate the Message screens, such as how one would temporarily put a Message on hold, how to remove just themselves from the Message, etc. After she was done, we decided to take a short break from walking.

"I say, we need to get some food. I'm starving I have to say..." Kyle sighed. I had to agree. If we were attacked now, it would be disastrous. Fighting with an empty stomach is something simply unthinkable to me. I'm sure it was the same for Kyle.

As our eyes met, Kyle and I nodded in a synchronized manner. We stood up quickly and blazed through 7 matches of Jan Ken Pon, where the winner gets to stay and protect Akemi and the loser has to leave to find food.

*Heh. Little does Kyle know, I'm actually a Jan Ken Pon master! Watch as I-*

Despite winning the first 3 matches, I lost the next four consecutively. I glared at Kyle as he laughed at me. Akemi smiled and then told me to get going.

"Hey you, you better not do anything funny with Akemi alright? You'll be the first to die if you do." I growled at Kyle. Kyle gave me a sarcastically baffled look, as if to say, 'like I'd ever do that.'

*Hmph. Whatever, the night is closing in and we need food.*

Grudgingly, I left the two of them and disappeared into the forest. As I trudged forward, I noticed some broken branches and some scratch marks on the surrounding bark around the trees.

*Huh...wait a second. That's not-*

I heard a *swoosh* behind me, and just barely managed to duck down fast enough to see a silhouette fly past me. I felt a chill on the back of my neck as a few hairs were sliced off. Almost immediately following the attack, another silhouette appeared on my right side, just inside my peripheral vision. I quickly leaned back, just enough so that the tip of the second attacker's blade just grazed the skin on my neck. The two silhouettes leapt through the trees and met up with each other on the ground in front of me. I prepared myself to fight.

"Hmph, he's pretty good isn't he?"

"Hey you! Where's your teammates? Did they die already?"

"Shut it." I growled, adopting a boxer's stance.

"Hmph, no matter."

"We'll kill you soon enough."

The two of them leapt apart from each other in opposite directions. Instead of trying to follow the two of them with my eyes, I simply relied on my ears to check their location. I leapt forwards to where they were a moment ago, preparing to escape. The mysterious man's words from 10 years ago rang in my head, "...avoid meaningless fights and above all, survive." I leapt through the trees weaving around trees, under branches, over rocks, etc. in attempt to throw them off. However, my pursuers were persistent and stuck to me like super glue.

*This isn't going anywhere. If this keeps up, I won't be able to return to camp. I've got to do something. I've got to lose them.*

Mid-jump, I quietly whispered, "Accel". Rings of characters appeared all around me in a perfect sphere as wind picked up around me.

"Damn it! He's a magic user! He's going to speed up! Hurry! We're going to lose him!"

"I know damn it! Shut up and go! We're almost onto him!"

Time seemed to slow down as I completed the enchantment and the rings of characters fully surrounded my body. I could hear them closing in slowly as I felt the rings condense and focus at my feet. Centimeters away from my neck, my right foot comes into contact with a branch. Millimeters away from my neck, I managed to gain my balance and I prepared to blast off. Just as one of my pursuer's blades nicked the back of my neck, I blasted forward, breaking the branch that was underneath my feet, leaving a flurry of leaves in my quake.

"Damn...we lost him."

"This sucks..."

As I sped forwards, I felt myself calm down.

*Thank goodness...That was pretty scary I have to say. Wait, how did they get weapons...? Woah! Is that what I think it is? It's a deer! Or should I say, food? Muahaha! You're mine!*

I flew in for the kill.

When I returned to camp, Kyle glared at me and growled, "What took you so long?" He then proceeded to tear the deer out of my hands and dragged it towards a pile of wood. Presumably where he was going to start a fire. He then chanted a quick Burst spell and lit the pile of wood on fire. He then stuck the deer on a stake and began to cook it like a pro.

"Well?" Akemi asked. "You haven't answered Kyle yet. I'm also curious. Why DID you take so long?"

I shrugged and Akemi suddenly said in a sharp tone, "Stop, don't move."

I froze at her sharp tone and saw her approach me. She grabbed my jaw and forced it up. She gasped and quickly asked, "Is that a blade wound?"

I nodded quickly.

"So you were attacked then?"

I nodded again. Akemi sighed gently as she slackened her grip. She smiled and said, "Well at least you came back in one piece. Here, let me heal that for you. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

I shook my head. As she healed me, I heard her say that she had explained a few more things to Kyle while I was gone.

When she was done, I quickly whispered, "Did Kyle...do anything...? You know...funny to you?"

She looked at me and widened her eyes in surprise. She blushed heavily as her imagination went to work and she quickly shook her head and slapped me across the face while yelling, "IDIOT!"

Feeling a sting in my right cheek and significantly more relieved, I replied, "Haha...thank God."

"A-anyways, where you even listening to what I was saying?"

"Huh?"

"Idiot. Anyways, as I was saying, if you were to say, 'System Characters', it'll display each person and their fighting stats from their physical examination. Usually, people would tone down their abilities a bit so you've got to take their current score and add about 1 or 2 points to it to get their actual ability. Also, as each hour passes, the stats will be updated. The list is arranged from strongest to weakest, so always keep a lookout for those amongst the top 10 fighters. I scrolled down to see that Kyle Smith was in 10th place. I whistled.

*Kyle huh...not bad eh? Maybe he was just faking being an airhead.*

As I continued scrolling, I saw Akemi's name somewhere in the 30's position. I continued scrolling. An uneasy feeling began to spread in my chest

*Where am I?*

As I scrolled to the bottom, I saw my name, smack dab at the very bottom. Beside my character name, a large [NO STATS] was displayed. I went onto my hands and knees and my head drooped down. A cloud of depression came over me.

*This is it. I'm done. I-I-I can't handle this anymore. I'm going to cry.*

Akemi laughed brightly and said, "Don't worry about it! Your stats will be updated in about 10 minutes! You're only last place because you missed the physical examination."

I went into a squatting position as I nodded.

*Mhhm. Yes, yes. That's right. This isn't accurate. Not at all.*

Just then, a nice aroma floated over to where Akemi and I were sitting.

"It's ready guys~" Kyle said in an upbeat tone. We rushed over and began to dig in to the deer.

When we finished the deer, we decided that it was appropriate to settle down here for the night. We promised to each take turns to lookout for enemies. We would each take an hour watch, and would switch off every hour. This way, we'll each be able to get 2 hour blocks of rest. I volunteered to take first watch. As the two of them slowly drifted into their sleep, I opened the screen again to check for the update. Indeed, the update came but I was still only in the 80s area. My new stats read:

[Rank 86]

STR: 0

DXT: 3

Kills: 0

Team Kills: 0

SS: Accel Level 1

I sighed gently to myself.

*No matter...this is for the best. The weaker I appear, the less possible other people are to target me. Strong people usually aim to take out other strong people first...*

The night passed rather uneventfully, each of us getting around 5-6 hours of sleep.

As I woke up, I found myself looking up at Akemi's sleeping face.

*Wait. Why am I looking up at her...*

I suddenly felt that my head was no longer lying on the hard, flat floor. Instead, I seemed to be slightly inclined...on top of...

*C-c-could this be? The l-l-legendary … lap pillow?*

As I savoured the moment, I noticed that Akemi slowly opened her eyes as well. When she saw me look up at her, her face went from a nice, pale colour to a deep red.

"A-a-KYAAA!" She screamed as she swatted me off her lap. "I-i-it's not like that. I was just...um...I sort of fell asleep near the end of my watch, and, like, um, like..."

"Oh? Are you two lovebirds finally awake?" Kyle laughed jokingly at us when he returned from inside the forest.

"Huh? Where were you?" I asked, forgetting about Akemi and her flustered state.

Kyle grinned broadly at me and lifted up a rabbit and two knives.

*Wait a moment...aren't those knives...*

Kyle said, "Breakfast. And I found a pair of dolts who tried to kill me on the way back. I killed them though, so it's fine now. And plus, we've got weapons now too eh?"

*Incredible, so he finished off those two who chased after me huh...Kyle's actually pretty strong eh?*

"Are you hurt?" Akemi asked seriously.

"Are you kidding? No way. As if I'd get myself into a melee battle. I just burnt the duo into crisp. They couldn't even come close to me. Pfft."

"Damn, that's pretty crazy man."

I high fived him as our team has finally taken our first kills.

Over the course of the next few days, we came across a few other people but managed to pull through all along. So it turns out, Akemi's healing abilities were far beyond our expectations. The most impressive feat she did was reattaching Kyle's arm after it got cut off. For the next 3 days, I would incessantly laugh at Kyle for his mistake in letting his guard open.

By the 6th day of the battle, the total number of participants have been shaved down to 19. It was a heavily rainy day, and puddles were forming all around us, making it slippery and hard to walk. Luckily, none of my team members have lost their lives yet. Surprisingly, Kyle remained at 10th throughout. Being me, I continued to avoid fights, so my stats remained fairly low. Akemi was now ranked 11th for her sheer ability in healing.

Our stats now read:

Kyle Smith Akemi Atsuko Kazuki Yoshi

[Rank 10] [Rank 11] [Rank 18]

STR: 4 STR: 3 STR: 1

DXT: 3 DXT: 1 DXT: 3

Kills: 9 Kills: 0 Kills: 7

Team Kills: 16 Team Kills: 16 Team Kills: 16

SS: Accel Level 1 SS: Healing Level 3 SS: Accel Level 1

Burst Level 2

[Burst Fire]

For payback, Kyle often laughed at how I was physically weaker than Akemi. I would then retort by saying how he was often very distracted during battles, and he would then ask me how many kills I had. The fights usually ended with Akemi telling us to stop. It was incredible how over the course of these 6 virtual days, Kyle, Akemi, and I have become inseparable friends. As the hour passed, we checked the updates only to find that another team had been killed. The total remaining members were 17.

"So eight groups left including us huh..."

"I'd say we did pretty well to get this far eh? Oh, by the way, Kazuki?"

"Mhhm?"

"Didn't you mention that you could go all the way up to Accel 3 right before we went into our sleep capsules? Why didn't you ever use Accel 3 in the battles up till now? Why did you only ever use Accel 1?"

"Oh, well you see, Accel 2 and Accel 3 take a lot of effort for me to use and it burns up my magic pretty fast. Unlike you two, I've only ever remembered having a less than average magic capacity, and couldn't use my magic for very long. That's why I've only ever used Accel 1. It's also why I keep on avoiding having to use magic, thus avoiding to fight as well."

"Oh, I see."

Suddenly, Kyle motioned for us to stop. "Do you hear that?" he asked, "I feel like there's someone around us."

*Hmm...it's true. I've been having the feeling that someone's been following us for some time now as well...*

Just then, a blazing rock shot out from inside the forest right at Akemi. In a flurry, Kyle moved himself in front of Akemi and took the blast straight to the chest. A large hole the size of a soccer ball opened up in Kyle's chest. Even with Akemi's magical powers, we knew it was too late to save Kyle.

"KYLE! HANG IN THERE! I-I-I'LL STOP THE BLEEDING! STAY WITH US! H-HANG IN THERE!"

"K-KYLE! DON'T DIE ON ME MAN! WE NEED YOU! HANG IN THERE! STAY WITH US!"

Kyle coughed up some blood as he laid in a bloodied puddle. As his blood slowly diluted and mixed in with the water, he rasped, "T-t-that flaming rock. There must be at least 2 Burst users targeting you. The one that threw the rock...must be quite powerful..."

"S-STOP TALKING KYLE! I-I'LL SAVE YOU! PLEASE! STOP TALKING! YOU'RE LOSING TOO MUCH BLOO-"

Kyle raised a bloodied hand and motioned for Akemi to stop. "I...won't make it..." He coughed up some more blood. "...so just...listen to what I have to say...and stay alive..."

Just as Akemi was about to have another outburst, I motioned for her to stop as well.

*There's no way Kyle can make it. Not with such a large hole opened up on his chest. There's no way...*

After a brief silence, Kyle gasped, "There's a bunch of people approaching...I think. They've been...following us for...some time now. All of them...are rather...strong..."

Kyle lifted a hand and pointed it at my face. I grasped his hand with my own and looked intently at him.

"...K..."

"What? Kyle, what did you say?"

"...Kazuki..."

"Yes, it's me. Kazuki! What is it?"

"...protect...Ake-"

His voice was suddenly cut off as another rock shot out from the forest and blasted his head into bits. Blood splattered across my face as I opened my eyes in shock. Akemi widened her eyes as well and covered her mouth with her hands. As we kneeled beside where Kyle's body was a moment ago, two hooded figures emerged from inside the forest.

"Che. What a lame guy huh, didn't even put up a fight before he died." The first hooded figure spat on the ground.

"Kukuku, what a failure eh? Although it was pree funny blowing a hole in that bastard's chest. Kekeke!"

"Kekeke! Did ya see his expression? And when we blew off his head! Kyahaha!"

As they stood beside us, the first hooded figure saw Akemi. He licked his lips with his long, slimy tongue and said, "Keh. She's pree cute ehh?"

Akemi's arms were forced from her mouth and she was hoisted up into the air, her body dangling limply by her arms.

"Heh. Yeah totally. What should we do huuh? What should we do with this pree lil' lady?"

*I-I-I've got to snap out of it! I need to protect Akemi! I need to do something!*

"...top" I whispered.

"Huuuuh? Did ya say sumthin' punk? I couldn't quite hear ya."

I felt as if something snapped inside of me as I screamed, "I TOLD YOU TO STOP YOU FUCKERS!"


	4. The Alliance of the Dragon

My name is Kazuki Yoshi. I'm currently 15 years old and am in the midst of battle against two Burst magic users. My close friend, Kyle, had just been brutally murdered by the two, and they are currently holding my only other friend, Akemi, hostage. Shamelessly, they talk trash about my friend Kyle as well as defile Akemi.

...I felt as if something snapped inside of me as I screamed, "I TOLD YOU TO STOP YOU FUCKERS!"

An eruption exploded all around me and two layers of blue, glowing characters surrounded me. Gusts of air picked up around me and the wind howled. As if to match my sorrow and anger, lighting struck at precisely the same moment and the sound of thunder roared through the air, shaking the very group underneath us. A blinding glow appeared at my feet as the very air around me rippled.

"Keh. What is this? Magic? Without a chant?"

"Che, I thought this guy was a nobody! Damn, he must've tricked us!"

The hoods of the two hooded figures blew off as their faces were revealed. Two boney and almost identical faces appeared. Both had a mohawk as well as a lip right. One's hair was dyed red while the other a mixture of blue and purple. Several earrings could be seen glinting on their ears. A spiked collar wrapped itself around both of their necks. They then proceeded to throw Akemi on the ground behind them. The look of fear in their faces quickly disappeared as they regained their composure.

"Keh, we have two people. There's only one of him, we can do this. He's only doing an Accel 2."

"Che, yeah! We can take him on. Let's do this!"

Just as their words left their mouth, a ground shaking explosion could be heard from me. The two of them quickly whipped their heads around and looked at me with wide eyes. The rings of blue characters glowed even brighter and finally condensed around my feet. My hair rippled upwards as immense gusts of wind blew up from underneath me. My shirt fluttered upwards and I glared at them. My eyes glinting with pure, white hatred.

My mind was going blank. All I could process was the fact that Akemi is hurt, Kyle is dead, and the two standing in front of me are responsible. I felt my body tip forwards, and then the the scenery around me mixed into a blur. The droplets of rain cut into my skin and face as I flew forwards at the pair of enemies.

"Huh? Where did he go?"

"Keh...did that bastard run away? What a weakling."

In a gritty whisper, I hissed, "Who ran away, you little shit?"

It almost seemed as if I had teleported behind the two of them. Their eyes widened as they attempted to set up a chant to fire their Bursts at me. I didn't hesitate. I pulled out the two knifes given to me by Kyle, and I hacked away at one of them. In swift movements too fast for them to follow, I had cleanly decapitated the first enemy. I stood silently in the rain as the second Burst user pointed his hands at me.

"Ke...ke..ke...you m-may have killed one of us, but you're dead now! I'M DONE MY CHANT! THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN DOD-"

My body vanished. In fear, the enemy screamed and randomly shot his fire in a random direction. As he looked around wildly, he could hear me whisper despite not being able to see me.

"Not...even..."

A brief pause as only the pitter-patter of rain could be heard. He breathed heavily as he stopped spinning around. Just as he was about to open his move to spit out another provocation, I whispered from behind him directly in his right ear,

"...close."

I stabbed him mercilessly in his back. His scream echoed in the sky as two knifes protruded from his chest. I then proceeded to hack away up and down from in his chest. His limbs fell away and sections of his body landed in a bloodied mass on the ground under him. I held up the remains of his torso as well as his head with a knife. Little bits of foam could be seen coming out the corners of his mouth. Before I could piece my knife through his head, his body dissipated along with my knives and all that was left was a simple screen, floating in front of me, saying,

[Mental Shock Level - Abort.]

[Kazuki: Kill + 1]

[Remaining: 14 participants]

I looked up into the sky and felt the rain pour down on me. My adrenaline had yet to dissipate. As I recalled what had just happened, I clenched my fists in anger. Kyle had just died. Tears streamed down my face as I stood in silence.

*In the end, I still couldn't protect them. My friends. I'm disgusting.*

Just then, I heard Akemi's voice, "Kyahhh!"

I broke out of my reverie and spun around to see Akemi hoisted up by again by two different people this time. Surrounding the two people currently holding Akemi were four people, each with a wicked looking weapon. A 7th person emerged from the forest and said,

"Fufufu...you did well to survive this far you trash. However, you shall die now! To the hands of the great me!"

*Huh? Who is this person...?*

Just then, his face registered in my head. His well cut out features, his crisp look. The muddy looking dirty blond hair he has and the general air of a noble that he has. I almost gasped involuntarily. This was the person in first place in the character list.

*So this is the guy in first...hey hey...this is no joke...he's got to be really strong to be first. I remember the last time I checked the number of kills he had...he had over 20...this man single-handedly killed over a ⅕ of the participants...what was his SS skill again...? Argh! I can't remember!*

"Fufufu...seems like you finally recognize who I am...fufufu! That's right! I'm that man in first! I'm the summoner, the Ruler of the Beast, Haruo Daiki! Remember this name!"

*Damn...this is going to be tough. It's already hard having to do a 7 on 1, but to have to do a 7 on 1 where they have a hostage as well as the number one hot shot in the game... tsk...*

As I prepared myself to fight, I heard a rustling from behind me. Then, 5 others emerged from the forest and surrounded me.

*Oi...oi...you've got to be kidding...1..2..this is everybody left isn't it...? Isn't this too much of a coincidence...? Or no...oh no...could it be...?*

"Fufufu...that's right kid, I've formed an alliance with 6 other teams making a team of 14 people. I'm afraid you've already killed off 2 of our members though...but no matter. They were small fry anyways...Anyhow, these are the rest of our members! We call ourselves the Alliance of the Dragon. Prepare yourself...we're going to kill you and your little friend here now...fufufu"

As he said that, he carefully stroked Akemi's face with his hands, gently brushing her hair back behind her ear in a distasteful manner. He then proceeded in licking Akemi's cheek, and anger flared in me again.

"Kyahahaha! Fabulous! Anger! Rage! Madness! Give me more! Show it to me! Your power! Fight me with all you've got! Kyahaha!"

As the air around me began to ripple again, another ring appeared around me. However, this time, the condensed around my feet as well as my arms. I felt like my body was burning up, my head was on fire. I knew my magic was going to be depleted soon, so I had decided not to drag out the fight. I would give it all I got right from the start.

"aaaaaAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCEEEEELLLLLLL 3!" I roared into the sky. A tornado erupted around me spinning madly upwards. Lighting flashed all around us, thunder booming while the ground shook. The tornado then exploded outwards, dissipating and leaving behind a massive dust cloud around me and my enemies. The dust quickly cleared and they saw me standing in the centre of the clearing, a golden like aura rippling and twisting upwards from all around my body. My shirt was torn in several places, and hung wet and limply against my body. My pupils had turned golden and I bared my teeth. Veins bulged around my body as my muscles tensed up.

My enemies straightened up themselves and prepared to fight.

"FUFUFU, FWAHAHAHA! NOW, FIGH-"

Before he could finish, I disappeared from my location with an explosion, leaving behind a massive dust cloud. A scream sounded and as the dust cleared, I was standing in the centre of the crowd of 7 people behind the leader. I had torn apart the body of one of the people holding Akemi up. The other person quickly let go as they all leapt away as fast as they could. I held Akemi and whispered to her gently,

"Are you okay?"

It may just be my imagination, but it seemed as if she had nodded in response despite the fact that she was unconscious. I laid her body down and stood up. With my back turned to them, I turned my face and glared behind me at my enemies. I hissed with anger, and disappeared once more. Another scream could be heard towards the left side of their group. Immediately the leader roared,

"Bursters, get ready! Accel users, fend him off so Burst users can do their chant! And you! Yes, you! Get over here! You'll defend me. The other two of you! Get around the Burst users but don't get in their way! Defend them with everything you've got! Do it as we've always done it! Now go go go!"

Despite their attempts to set up, I had once again disappeared with an explosion and a dust cloud, only to have another one of their burst users scream in pain as I tore him apart.

Their leader looked slightly frantic. I stood there, my arms hanging limply at my sides, the Burst user's torn off arm in my mouth, dripping with blood. My eyes glowed with malicious intent as I spat out the arm. The arm slowly dissolved as it fell to the ground. I turned my body towards them and slowly lumbered over.

"Quick! Bursters! Fire at the girl!"

Both remaining Burst users fired their respective magic elements at Akemi. Without hesitation, I vanished and took both blows to the body. I gritted my teeth but hung in there. Since the Burst users didn't have much time to chant, their blasts weren't strong enough to blast holes in me like they did to Kyle. I roared in pain as I dashed off again at another member of their group. Their 3 Accel members had finished charging already, and had raced at me to defend the rest of their members. I simple veered around 2 of them and swatted the last one aside. As I finally reached the Burst users, I lifted up an arm and brought it crashing down on them. Another non-magic member of their team leapt over and shoved the Burst user just in time, effectively saving the Burst user. However, this feat was not done without a price. My arm speared right through the non-magic user and in the next few seconds I tore up his body like it was a wet rag.

"Hmph. Finally, the useless members of our group did something useful. What losers. Phst." The leader spat on the group beside him and ordered the remaining 1 non-magic user to continue protecting the Burst users, even if it meant losing her own life. Just then, I saw a smile spread across the leaders face.

*Huh...? Why is he smiling? Why is that bastard smiling? Wipe that smile off your face you bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you! KILL!*

I saw him slowly raise a hand and pointed at a spot behind me. I slowly turned around to see the that the two Accel users I had avoided had captured Akemi and held her up. Akemi seemed to have regained consciousness, and was fighting against their grips.

*Huh...wait...why are they...no. No. NO. NONONONO! NOT AKEMI!*

"UWOOOOO! NOOOOOO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I reached out desperately for Akemi. Despite my best efforts, the two Accel users then proceeded in stabbing through Akemi's torso. Their weapons hung dripping with blood through Akemi's body. Akemi's face has turned pale as her body slowly stopped fighting. The two Accel users let go of Akemi and she dropped down to her hands and knees. They dragged out their weapons from inside Akemi and Akemi gritted her teeth and moaned in pain. I could feel my mouth moving but no words came out. My bottom lip quivered and the only thought that passed through my mind was,

*I couldn't save any of them. Not a single one. Not Kyle. Not Akemi. No one.*

As I fell to my knees in grief, I suddenly heard one of the Accel users scream in pain. My head whipped upwards as my eyes focused on the 3 figures in the rain. Akemi seemed to have managed to punch a hole through one of the Accel users. I could see reinforced magic surround her hands. As the Accel user's body crumbled away into tiny, hexagonal polygons, I could hear Akemi saying, "Don't give up." She smiled gently as she tilted her head to one side. I got up and ran towards her. I saw her tip forwards and as I held out my arms to catch her, she broke apart into thousands of tiny, glowing polygons.

"Sorry, Kazuki."

Akemi vanished from my sight. I groped emptily at the air where Akemi was just a moment ago. I opened my mouth as tears streamed down my face.

"aaaaaaaaaaAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The condensed rings of blue characters that had wrapped themselves around my arms and legs suddenly burst apart into large rings around my body again. The golden-like aura around me exploded outwards and I felt my body starting to float. Waves of plasma and light rippled outwards from the 3 rings that spun madly around my floating body. Just when I thought I had reached my magical capacity limit, my cross necklace broke off and floated in front of me. Immediately, I felt a surge of energy in my body. A warm feeling coursed through my body as I felt my depleted magic reserves begin to fill up again at an alarming rate. A fourth ring around my body slowly appeared. The fourth ring was larger than the other three, and spun around the other 3 like a planetary ring. Suddenly the rings broke apart and the characters swarmed together like a glowing, blue dragon around my body. I twisted and turned and wrapped itself around my body. At the final moment, it tore away from me and then came straight back, crashing into my chest and entering my body. I felt a shock wave ripple through my body.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. My heart rate increased rapidly as my body began to glow gently. Soon, my heart rate had reached a speed that should not have been considered normal. My adrenaline shot up beyond abnormal levels, and my brain activities spiked.

On the other side, the teachers were going berserk. My ridiculous stats were causing glitches in the system. They attempted to forcefully remove me from the VT world only to come across a block.

"M-Mika sensei! The emergency logouts aren't working! Someone has hacked into the system!"

"W-what are you talking about? Why would anybody hack into the system to stop the emergency logouts from working?"

A video suddenly popped up as a silhouette appeared on the screen. The silhouette simply said in a metallic voice, "*Bzz...krzch*...Just...watch...*Bzz...bzz...*"

"W...what..." Ms. Mika had a look of disbelief on her face.

"Hmph...guess we can only sit back and watch. Counter-hackers! Continue working away at the block." Mr. Hiretsu growled.

"I guess..." Ms. Mika sighed with a tense expression on her face.

On the other side of the screen, the silhouette simply waited and smiled. She then whispered to herself, "What an interesting couple indeed...it's a pity she died..."

Another voice could be heard from the dark room, "Do you want them? In your squad that is..."

"..."

"?"

"Yes. You can handle the Akemi girl and I can deal with the other two. And plus, the principle told me to keep an eye on that Kazuki kid..."

"Alright. I'll arrange for it to happen."

The screen in the dark room flickered.

"Hmph." The silhouette smiled again.

Back in the rainy weather of the VT world, I have managed to break past my limit and have managed to reach Accel level 4. A sphere of light energy engulfed my entire body, with random blue characters floating about inside of it. Occasionally, a 'solar-flare' like burst of energy would shoot off from the sphere only to suddenly fade away. Gusts of wind swirled around my violently like a hurricane, where I was in the calm center, at the eye. Rain continued to hammer down on the remaining 8 of us left. Both of my eyes have become completely engulfed in a golden looking light. In my left hand, I held the cross that had broken off my neck when I reached Level 4.

*This cross...is...a seal? Why do I have a seal on me...? Bah, I'll think about this later. I need to deal with my enemies right now.*

My 7 enemies stared at me, unable to move, completely mesmerized by the flaring golden light that engulfed my body. It was the first time any first year student at the Earth Academy had managed to reach a Level 4. In fact, it was the first time in almost any Academy for a first year student to have a power level of 4. The only exception being UMAM. I lifted both of my hands at their elbows and looked at my hands. I clenched them and released them, testing out the maneuverability of my new power. I bent down slightly and pointed my right fist to the ground while holding my left fist at the side of my waist, elbow curved. I then proceeded to close my eyes.

*Focus...centre this energy...you've done this before... Wait. What? I've done this...huh? What are these memories...a young girl...blond...ah how cute. Huh...? Black hair...wait...is that...me? Two large silhouettes...her parents I presume...? Wow, what a big house...huh? Why is everything so dark...why is- FOCUS. CONCENTRATE YOUR MAGIC, YOUR ENERGY. FOCUS EVERYTHING ON YOUR RIGHT FIST. FOCUS!*

I felt a tingle on my right hand and I slowly opened my eyes. My 7 enemies still lay scattered, but unmoving. One of them seems to be yelling something, but it seemed as if they were all moving in slow motion. I looked at my right fist. A tornado-like swirl has engulfed my glowing right hand. Tainted in an orange, red like colour, with cracks going all the way up to my bicep, it gave off the appearance that my right fist was charred and was cracking. The air around it wavered and rippled in the intense heat it was giving off. Continuing to focus my energy, I slowly stood up straight and turned around to face the two Accel users.

*Which one was it...? That one. To the right. He was the one that killed Akemi. I shall avenge my friends. Akemi's death won't be for nothing! Kyle's death won't be for nothing! I'll win this for us! I'll never give up! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!*

"uuuuwwWWWOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" As I roared, it was as if time had begun running again. Everything snapped back into real time as their shouts finally got to me.

"QUICK! SET UP YOUR DEFENSES! RUN! GET OUT! SAVE YOURSELVES!"

"NO, STOP! STICK TO THE PLAN! IF WE STICK TO THE PLAN, WE CAN -"

"DO YOU SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING? HE'S -"

"JUST STICK TO THE PLAN GOD DAMNIT!"

"UH...UH-OH..GUYS. HE'S DOING SOMETHING! SOMEONE HELP! HELP! HEEEEEL-"

"OOOOOOORRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

I lifted up my fist and threw my fist forward in a straight punch at the two Accel users as hard as I could. A small crater formed under my feet as a beam of pure energy exploded out from the spherical aura surrounding me. The Accel user's scream for help was prematurely cut off as their bodies almost vapourized in the heat. The entire ground shook as a pathway of destruction was left in the wake of the beam. Anything that came into direct contact with the beam, including the two Accel users, were instantly and completely vapourized.

*Two down, 4 more to go.*

I turned around slowly again, and saw the rest of them scattering away as fast as they could go. The only members remaining on the field was the leader as well as the non-magic user he had appointed as his 'bodyguard'. I focused the energy on my right arm again, and then leapt up into the sky. A sonic boom rippled across the terrain, shaking the trees around me. Instantly, I was up in the sky. I turned myself so that I faced downwards, then performed what could be also known as an, 'air jump', and pushed off the air downwards at one of the Burst users. As I flew down at the speed of sound, another sonic boom erupted and rang loudly across the sky, ringing harmoniously with the thunder that soon followed it. I closed in instantaneously and punched the Burst user in the back, vapourizing his virtual body. As I killed the first burst user, my speed continued to carry me causing me to smash fist-first into the ground. The ground shook as trees toppled. A mushroom-like cloud of smoke and dust floated up into the air. When the rain and wind finally cleared the cloud, a large crater with a diameter of 50 meters had appeared around me. I stood up and looked around, squinting and searching for the remaining 4 that I thought had survived. As I looked around the crater, I suddenly spotted a single hand sticking awkwardly out of the ground. I leapt over in a single bound and grabbed the hand. As I pulled, I saw that the rest of the body had begun to break down into polygons.

*So that means there are only 3 left huh...wait. Let me check the Character Screen. I think the hour is almost up, if it updates, I'll be able to see who's left.*

To my surprise, as the screen updated, I saw that only 3 participates remained alive. The leader, his guard, and myself.

*I guess that means the other one died in the blast as well then...*

I stood up and thought for a moment.

*Wait a second. Does this mean...triple kill? Achievement? Yes?*

"Hey Kyle! Guess what? I just got a triple ki-"

As I turned around, I remember that my teammates had already died. I looked behind my back at the barren landscape, where not a single person was in sight. I was alone. Again.

*Again...? Huh...? What are these...memories...ugh my head...*

I groaned and knelt down holding my head, dropping my cross in the process. My left eye began throbbing terribly. It's pure, golden-like colour began to turn into a dark, disgusting colour. A single droplet of blood came out of my left eye and rolled down my cheek. In it, little black characters swirled around.

*Ugh...what are these...black characters...? They almost look like...Beast magic...wait. Beasts can't use magic...what am I talking abou- ughh...my head...I remember...another Beast...the little blond girl... I have to save her...*

A voice suddenly broke my train of thought. The leader of the Alliance of the Dragon, Haruo, had appeared alone. He said in a clean, crisp voice,

"You did well to come this far. Let's finish this off in a fair manner. A simple fight to the death. Allow me to give you an honourable death."

*Huh...? What is he talking about...there's still the other guy...left...*

My thoughts trailed off as a large, hulking figure appeared behind him.

"Behold, I am the summoner of the great and evil Beast! And he is my sacrifice! His body shall become the body of the Beast! And the Beast shall be granted power! This is my power! I am a summoner!" He then turned to face the Beast as he said, "Your order is to kill or be killed." He then turned back towards me. "Are you ready?"

*Huh...a beast...I met another beast when I was young. I protected a young girl about the same age as me. Did I? Temple. I trained at a temple. Her parents. I needed to save her. "Sorry, go on without me." Huh? Who was that? "I'll hold it off for as long as I can." Huh? Who are you? Tell me! ANSWER ME! A dark hand shot out from nowhere, grabbing me. Ack...*

I looked up at the Beast which stared down at me with it's pitch black eyes.

"Ugh..." I groaned as I slowly stood up, my eyes still tightly shut.

"Are you ready, Kazuki Yoshi?"

"Shut up and bring it. I'll take you all out. For Kyle. For Akemi." I slowly half opened my eyes and I glared at Haruo Daiki. "I will kill you."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try!" Haruo lifted his arm, and as he brought it down, he roared, "I COMMAND YOU! GO!"

The Beast vanished from my sight and the next thing I know, I was up in the air, a burning pain spreading from my stomach through to my back. The Beast looked up at me, and then jumped. It ended up beside me almost immediately, and the brought me crashing down to the ground again with it's elbow.

*Ooouff. I...need to start fighting...but my eye...oww...MY EYE! MYY EYEEE!*

More blood began to spew from my left eye as more black characters came out. In a rigid and vein like pattern, the black characters spread across the upper-left side of my face. My left eye had went from a muddly, blood coloured black to a pitch black. The pain sudden stopped and my head became much clearer. I could suddenly hear more, see better, smell better...it was as if my senses had been enhanced.

I suddenly felt a gust of wind flying towards the back of my head and with the inhuman speed of an Accel 4 user, I managed to dodge out of the way. As I dodged to the right side of the Beast's fist, I swung my left leg back and landed a solid kick to the Beast's belly, sending the Beast careening off into a tree. It growled incoherently as it got back up. I prepared myself for it's next attack. In an instant, our eyes met and both our bodies vanished. We clashed together right at the middle and continued to move upwards into the sky, flying and grazing each other as we went. All the way up, neither of us could land a clean hit, but as we reached the top, I managed to sock the Beast in the face where it kicked me before it flew off into the distance. We both flew in opposite directions of each other and landed in the forest. I got up from the crater I had created, and looked over at the Beast. Where I was still recovering, the Beast had already stood up and was ready to fight.

*What inhuman resilience...and what insane stamina that Beast has...*

Except...the Beast wasn't charging at me. Instead, it held it's ground. I squinted and saw that a small black ball of characters were gathering in it's right hand.

*Huh? Impossible! Beasts can't use magic!*

As the small, black ball in it's hands increased in size, I saw the Beast's expression change. It was almost as if it was snickering at me. The next moment, the Beast squeezed it's fist shut and the small, black ball disappeared. I saw black smoke slowly come out of it's hand. All of a sudden, I heard,

*"Die, puny human."*

in my head.

*Huh...was that...the Beast talking?*

"AAARRRGGGGRAAAAHHHHHHH!" The Beast roared as it lifted it's right hand and threw it forwards at me. A pitch black beam of energy flew towards me at a frightening pace. I lifted both hands to take the blast, but it beam hit me like a train. I managed to maintain my balance but was pushed back a good 25 meters before I stopped.

"ooooOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" I roared as I pushed back at the black beam. Step by step, I slowly worked my way back. When my arms could no longer bear the weight, I masterfully tilted my weight to the side while gently shifting my arms to the other side. At that precise moment, I focused my energy at my hands and shot forth a small but powerful blast of energy, temporarily cancelling out the black beam. In a fraction of a second, I leapt out of the way of the black beam and into the sky. The Beast looked up at me and growled angrily. It shifted it's hands and the black beam followed, leaving a pathway of destruction behind it. In the sky, I performed multiple air-jumps, avoiding the black beam as much as possible. I slowly began to start my descent towards the Beast, masterfully dodging the black beam to the best of my abilities. When I was no more than 10 meters away from the Beast, I put forth all my energy and charged forwards with one final, large air-jump. The black beam came closer...closer. My distance to the Beast began to close...5 meters left, 4, 3... The black beam came into contact with my left side, and instantly my left arm was torn off. Despite losing an arm, my adrenaline was working overtime, and the pain simply did not get to me.

*1 meter left...!*

"OOORRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I roared as I swung my right arm down at the Beast's outstretched right arm. In an instant, my right arm passed through the Beast's right arm. The black beam disappeared abruptly, in a cloud of black characters. A few seconds later, the Beast's right arm slowly slid down and fell to the ground.

"*huff* *huff*...now...we're even eh?... *huff* *huff*"

I grasped the stump that now replaced my left arm as I stared at the Beast. The Beast looked at it's missing right arm, and simply roared in anger. It brought it's left fist smashing downwards to the ground, it's entire forearm disappearing into wet, muddy soil. I felt a rumble under my feet and I quickly responded by flipping back. A fleshy, hardened spike replaced where I was just a moment ago. I continued to flip and jump as more spikes appeared all around, stabbing at precisely the places I was at just a few nanoseconds ago. When far enough, I finally pushed off the ground with my arms and landed on a tree. The Beast continued to roar and pointed it's stump (it's right arm) at me. Spikes shot out of the stump at me, and it took all I had just to avoid being stabbed by the hundreds of them coming at me. I dodged and weaved in and out of it's protruding spikes, occasionally destroying one to make space for me to pass through, making my way closer and closer to the Beast. Finally, I broke through the spiderweb of spikes, and lifted my right arm.

"THIS! IS! IT! OOOHHHHHHH!" I roared as a sudden black aura engulfed my right hand, changing it into a black, clawed form. I smashed my right hand/claw down at the Beast, tearing the Beast into two from it's left shoulder to it's right hip. As it's body fell apart, polygons breaking and scattering, a sudden spike shot out from it's intestines and pierced me through my stomach.

*Ack...! W-w-what a monster...even in death...it manages to deal...such...dama..ge...*

I slowly collapse as the monster's polygon body fully disappears. The rain had started to clear as the sun finally came out and started shining. I realized that our battle had ended meters away from Haruo, who was cowering under a tree in fear. His eyes were widened and his entire body was shaking.

"M-m-m-monst-t-ters..." He whispered as he stared at my ravaged body.

*Ugh...I...need...to...win... for...Akemi...and...Kyle...kill...him...kill...*

Black thoughts began to fill my mind as it slowly became blank from the pain. Black characters began rising out of the hole in my stomach as a small sizzling sound could be heard. I slowly pushed my body upright, and dragged my body with my arms towards the shaking Haruo.

"...k...u...kill...ou...Killl...You...I...Will...Kill...You..."

My monotone voice could be heard as I approached Haruo. At a meter's distance away, I arms gave out and I collapsed once more. My mind started to clear as the pain started to slowly fade away.

Am I...dying...? Well...I guess that was...pretty fun...ahh the pain...it's going...away...

I used my remaining energy to prop my body up again and I looked at Haruo, my eyes completely normal again. I reached out a black claw that used to be my right hand, and brought it close to Haruo's face, as if to grab it and crush it. Millimeters away from his face, I clenched my hands and started to break apart into small polygons. I looked at Haruo in the eyes and smiled as I tilted my head,

"It was fun fighting you. Good game."

I flashed a beaming smile as I felt my body slowly disappear. Then everything went black.

I suddenly saw a screen which displayed:

[You Placed in: 2nd. Runner Up]

The screen slowly disappeared as I slowly regained my consciousness again. I looked up at the pitch black room inside the capsule. With my arm, I gently pushed upwards at the lid. The automated lid slid smoothly upwards, opening and revealing me to a blinding light.

"Ahh...it's so bright..."

As I slowly sat up, I suddenly felt arms wrapped around me. Someone seems to have buried their face into my chest. A warm, wet feeling started to spread on my chest.

"H-huh? W-what's happening?"

I rubbed my eyes a few times and I saw Akemi hugging me tightly, tears spilling out like a waterfall.

"I-I-I was so worried!" Akemi sobbed. "T-they said that the system got hacked or something, and that they couldn't log you out! They said there was a chance that you'd get permanent damage! I was really scared!"

I looked down at the sobbing Akemi and wrapped my left arm around her while patting her head.

"Haha...it turned out okay right?"

"*sniff* NO IT DIDN'T! IDIOT! T-t-they said that near the end, something c-crazy was happening and that the VT dimension was breaking. I-I-If the dimension broke with you still connected, there was a 40% chance that your consciousness would be s-stuck in t-there until they've fixed it! Which would take at least a month!"

I looked slightly shocked at her loud voice, then my expression softened. I continued patting her head while saying, "Haha...well...I guess I've got really good luck eh? Haha...by the way, where's Kyle?"

I heard a small cough and I looked around the room again. I saw Kyle leaning cooly against a wall, his arms in his pockets. He grinned at me and said, "Good job mate! Second place eh?"

I smiled and gave him my thumbs up.

"It's too bad I couldn't get first place though...sorry about that...hehe"

I suddenly felt tears rolling down to sides of my face.

"Huh? Of all people, why are you crying?" Kyle asks "Is it because you wanted first? Ya greedy bastard..." Kyle thinned his eyes, and then burst out laughing.

"N-N-NO! I-I-It's just that I'm...really happy...to see you guys again...*sniff* *sniff*".

"Bah, you're making me blush" Kyle growls as he turns away, his lower lip sticking out. Before our room opened up, I could see a small smile spread across Kyle's face.

*Fwoooosh* Ms. Mika and another teacher entered the room. Ms. Mika was first to talk,

"Alright you three, congratulations on placing second. The entire span of 6 days of the Battle Royale will be reviewed over the next 2 days and will be compiled into a highlights video. For now, you first years can just relax. Your dorm assignments are posted on the outside of your room. You will be selected into a squad within the next 3-4 days. All results will be up on our website so remember to check it regularly. You're all dismissed for today. We'll see you in about 5 days. Enjoy your break."

Then, as we were about to leave, the second teacher sudden said in a cheery manner, "Kazuuuuki-kuun~ You were so cooool! My name is Aoki by the way~ I'm the school nurse! Remember to drop by later so I can check on you kaaay? Bye byeee!"

"Hmph. Aoki sensei, stop this. Let's go."

"Ooooookay nee-chan~"

*Huh? Nee-chan? Meh...whatever.*

****Akemi and Kyle gently helped me to my feet as we walked out of our room and into the light of the main room.


	5. C17

"Wait, what? What do you mean principal? I'm...moving? What? You're forcefully relocating me? What? Wait! No! Don't hang up! Do-"

Beep...Beep...Beep...

*A...a...ara?*

Beep...Beep...Beep...

"w-w-w-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?"

[5 days ago]

As Akemi, Kyle, and I left our room, we saw that the rest of the students have left their rooms as well. I stretched my neck in attempt to find Haruo, but he was nowhere to be found.

*There's just too many people...it's impossible trying to find him.*

Akemi and Kyle looked at their rooming assignments, and gasped in unison.

"Huh? What are you two gasping about?"

"Kyle! We're in the same dorm!"

"Aww yeah!"

They high-five each other in a happy manner. I lowered my eyelids and growled,

"If you're done looking at your rooming assignments, let me look at it too!"

I dragged the two of them away from the wall and my eyes focused on the little notice.

[Akemi Atsuko: Room 201. Dorm: C17]

[Kyle Smith: Room 101. Dorm: C17]

[Kazuki Yoshi: To be determined]

"Huh? What the heck? Why is my dorm assignment 'to be determined'? Don't I already have a dorm set up at the general dormitory at B2? What is this?"

"Huh? Kazuki, you already had a dorm?" Kyle asked curiously.

"Oh...yeah. Due to complicated reasons, I kinda dropped in to the school about a week ago and was placed in the general dormitory, which were the dorms from B0 all the way through to B19. I was placed in B2."

"You sure they didn't say it was temporary...?"

"Um...I think so...? I'm pretty sure it said on the acceptance letter..."

"Did you even read the acceptance letter?"

"Um...um..."

"Well? Did you? Huh?"

"Well...I skimmed throu-"

"...And there's your problem. It probably said, 'temporary residence' on it, but you probably missed it."

Akemi giggled, then added, "Knowing you, you probably lost the letter before even opening it. I'm thoroughly shocked you even managed to skim through it..."

"Shut up!" I pouted, my face slowly turning pink.

As the Battle Room slowly began to clear out, I turned over to Ms. Mika as I heard her call,

"Okay students! Take your belongings! It's time to leave now!"

I turned my attention back at Kyle and Akemi, and said,

"Well, I guess I'll meet you guys up later then right? How about we exchange our contact information first right?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's do that!"

The three of us whipped out our cellular devices and quickly exchanged our numbers and emails. Before Mr. Hiretsu could come after us and beat us out of the room, we quickly grabbed our stuff and sprinted out of the room.

"Che...damned kids..."

"Haha...it's good seeing them get along so well though."

Ms. Mika smiled as she watched our backs leave the room.

I bid Kyle and Akemi farewell at the bus stop, telling them that I'll visit sometime in the 5 days break we had. They grinned impishly at me as they waved through the windows of the bus. I smiled to myself and began my walk back to my dorm room.

When I opened my door, the phone began ringing almost instantly. From the shock, I almost dropped my cell phone. After bouncing it around in my arms and finally diving and catching it, I slowly regained my composure and dragged my feet over to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello. You are Kazuki Yoshi I presume?"

"Uh...yes. This is Kazuki Yoshi speaking."

"You are to move to the C17 residence by tomorrow."

"Wait, huh? What? Who are you again?"

"I am the principal of the Academy."

"Oh, I see. And why am I to move to the C17 residence?"

"Because I said so."

"Is there any wiggle room? I mean, I'm already settled in...it would be difficult to move now."

"My word is law. You obey my word or you suffer the consequences."

*Wow...harsh.*

"Hmm...but what if I can't find the C17 residence?"

"Figure it out."

"And what about the state of my current residence?"

"Must be in perfect condition or I'll have you work for me for the rest of your life."

Dooooooooooon. I could feel my hands starting to shake, sweat slowly rolled down the side of my face and dripped to the floor.

*Ack...t-t-this is bad...*

I looked around the room. The paint on the walls were peeling off, the tatami mats were old and in bad shape, the washroom sink isn't working and the left stove only works if you kick the oven.

*Arara...*

"W-w-what work...?"

"You'll see. I can promise you I'm not far behind Hiretsu sensei."

The phone dropped from my hand and hit the floor. I fall to my knees. I look up at the sky.

*Ah...I can hear singing...the light...it's so bright...so lovely...haha...*

"No more questions? Alright. So, move yourself to C17 by the end of tomorrow, 11:59pm sharp. Whatever you forget and leave behind will become school property. No exceptions. I'll see you in my office at 7:00am the day after tomorrow to discuss your work for me."

*Ah...he understands me so well...he knows I have no chance in repairing the room...my school life...no...come back...please...come back to me...no...my life...*

I knelt there beside my phone for the next 4 hours crying. Or...at least it felt like 4 hours. Once I've recovered from the almost fatal blow dealt by me by the Academy's principal, I slowly stood up and dragged my body over and began packing. A couple hours later, I had fully packed everything into several boxes, one large backpack, and one suitcase.

"Yosh! Alright. Done packing. Now...wait...where is C17?"

Then it suddenly registered in my brain that that was the residence Akemi and Kyle were living at. Feeling quite a bit better, I whip out my phone and called Akemi.

"Hello?"

"Hello Akemi?"

"This is Kyle."

"Oh hi Kyle."

"Hi, what's up?"

"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU ON AKEMI'S PHONE?"

Kyle held the phone as far as he could away from his ear after hearing me shout.

"Ayia Kazuki...you really shouldn't do that...I think I can't hear out of my left ear anymore..."

"*huff* *huff* T-then explain...*huff*...why you're on Akemi's phone."

"Oh, that's because she gave it to-

(In the background of the phone call)

*Gasp!* K-k-k-kyle!? W-w-why are you i-in my room? A-are you holding m-my p-p-p-pant-t-ties? Wh- KYAHHHHHHH

Oops, sorry 'bout that. Pretend you didn't hear that. Gotta run, see ya~"

"K-k-k-kyle...you...BAAASSSTTTTARRRDDDDDD!"

I clenched my phone tightly, almost breaking it.

"H-hello? Kazuki? S-s-sorry about that. Kyle came in my room an-"

"I-it's okay Akemi. I understand now..."

"So what's up? You called?"

"Yeah, so it turns out, I'm going to be living with you guys now."

"Oh? Really? That's great! I'll see you soon then! Hey, I gotta go. I need to dry my hair, I didn't have time to yet because I had to chase Kyle out of my room. Listen, C17 dorm is pretty amazing. We have two seniors here, I'll tell you all about it when you get here!"

"Haha alright!"

"Bye!"

"See ya!"

I pressed the [End Call] button. I held the phone in my hands, smiling like an idiot. I stared at my phone as the realization sunk in.

*I...I...I FORGOT TO ASK WHERE C17 WAS. GHATTT DAAMMNNNN!*

Just then, I heard rapid knocking on my door. I look at the time, it was currently 11:34. Who'd be knocking at my door this late...? I open my door to see Kyle's panting face.

"Y-y-yo. Kazuki. 'sup."

"The nerve you have, showing up at my doorstep after that..."

"H-h-haha...sorry. I had to escape...the seniors and Akemi are after my blood."

"Guess what?"

"Huh?"

"I'm after your filthy, perverted blood too."

My face distorted in anger as I threw a full powered Accel 1 punch straight at Kyle's face. The fist struck his face solidly and his body did a full half backflip before colliding to the corridor wall. The old wall creaked and the section with Kyle embedded into it cracked off. With it, Kyle and the section of wall fell down from the second floor and landed on the street in front of the B2 residence.

*Ara...? I accidentally used Accel 1...?*

About 10 minutes later, after helping Kyle up from the ground and attempting to hide and cover all evidence of destruction, Kyle and I sat on opposite ends of my coffee table. Kyle held a bag of ice to his nose.

"So? Why'd you call?" Kyle asked while massaging his nose.

"Um...well...about that. I kinda don't know where C17 is..."

"Oh, it's fine. I'll show you tomorrow."

"Huh? What do you mean tomorrow?"

"Well, I can't go back today now can I? They'd kill me. It'd be like getting punched by you in the face again..."

"Ah...I guess you're right. So wait, where are you going to sleep?"

"Huh?"

"I asked, where are you going to sleep tonight? You can't go back to your residence...?

"Are you stupid? I'm crashing at your house...I didn't come here because I wanted to...I mean, look at the state of this place. Phst."

"Oh...ahaha yeah, you're right. But it's a small place and I've already packed everything, so there's no blankets or anything...we've got to sleep on the tatami mats."

"Ha. It's fine."

"Alright...if you say so..."

I walked over and turned off the light, then lay down beside Kyle. I turned and looked at his sleeping face. His eyes were closed, his long eyelashes, his high cheek bones...I felt myself blush.

*WOOOOAH OKAY HOLD UP, NOT OKAY.*

I quickly flipped my body to face the other way.

*This is normal. I'm only feeling hot because it's 40 something degrees outside. Okay that's a lie. But Kyle's hot. I mean Kyle's body is producing warmth that's getting to me. No, that doesn't sound right either. Gah, stop! Clean your mind of those images! No! C-could this be...? The legendary...BL? NO! I'M NOT HOMOSEXUAL! I'M NOT-*

I heard a rustle behind me. I turned my head back to look only to see that Kyle had flipped his body over as well. I felt his arm wrap around my waist.

*Ara? OKAY THERE BUDDY, THIS IS TOTALLY GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. I'M N-NOT …*

My thoughts floated away as I saw Kyle's face again. I felt blood rush to my head as I quickly turned my face back again. I tried my best to pry Kyle's arms off of me, but despite my best efforts, his arms remained latched on to my body.

*Oh my...what thick forearms he has...what finely carved musc- NO. AHHHH! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! THIS IS NOT...STOP...AHHHH...wait. What is that. What is th-*

I felt something hard press against my back.

*Nononononononononononononononono...please don't tell me that' what I think it is...nonono...nonononononononononono...*

I felt Kyle pull me closer. He then proceeded to bury his face into the back of my neck. I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. Perspiration started forming on my body as I remained rigid.

*M...move it Kyle...S-stop t-this...Ahhhhhh!*

I don't know when it was but my consciousness slowly slipped away as I battled against Kyle's firm grip.

*Skadoosh*

"OW!" I yelped as I sat up rubbing my shin. As my eyes focused, I saw Kyle standing over top of my, looking down at my face.

"Get up you sleepyhead."

"Ouuff...gimme 5 more minutes..."

Another sharp pain to my shin.

"OUCH! CAN YOU STOP THAT?"

"Yes, but if you get up. We're moving your stuff to C17 now."

"Urgh...fine..."

I groaned as I sat up and rubbed the final bits of sleep out of my eyes. I dragged my body over to the shower room and took a quick shower as Kyle picked out clothes for me to wear when I got out of the shower.

I quickly dried off my body and covered my private parts with the towel. I walked out of the washroom and saw that Kyle had laid out some clothing.

"Seriously Kyle? That kind of colour scheme? What do you think I am? A hippie?"

"Just shut up and get dressed already."

When I was about to drop my towel, I remembered that Kyle was still standing there. I looked up and saw that Kyle was still staring at me curiously. Remember the events of last night, I blushed heavily and yelled,

"Idiot! Turn around!"

Kyle looked as if he was taken aback, and then turned around to face outside the window.

"Phst, it's not like I'm interested in you...I'm only interested in girls..."

"Shut up you homo." I growled, then muttered to myself, "Bet you don't even remember what you did to me last night..."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Shut up."

"Oh. Phst, hurry up and change."

I quickly took off the towel and whipped on the clothing he's laid out for me. When I was done, I told Kyle it was okay for him to turn around. We then split all my luggage between the two of us to carry, and then we each stacked up our boxes respectively. When everything seemed to be in order, the two of us lifted the boxes and headed out the door.

The C17 residence was a fairly nice looking house. A full two stories high, the house had a total of 4 bedrooms, 3 upstairs and one downstairs. The rooms had been assigned where the rooms on the upper floors belonged to girls and the room on the lower floor belonged to us boys. There were two washrooms, one on each floor, a nice looking kitchen (almost looks untouched...I wonder why), and a comfortable living room with two sofas and a large television. The backyard of the house was strikingly large, and had several different pieces of training equipment setup. Although I didn't believe it at first, the seniors had told me that the mountain range in the far distance was also a part of their backyard. They said they had claimed it after using the 'need for room to train with' as an excuse.

Kyle walked straight up to the door, plopped my boxes to the side of the door, and opened the door in a brazen manner. Almost immediately, I saw his body fly past mine, into the wall, or should I say through the wall, and onto the street. I then saw an angry Akemi with her fist outstretched, panting heavily.

"T-t-that was payback! You deserved that Kyle!"

She then looked up and saw me holding my boxes, and then ran over and hugged me tightly.

"You're here! Yay! I'll show you around the house and introduce you to our seniors!"

I dropped my boxes as Akemi grabbed my arm and dragged my through the door. As I looked back at the street, I saw Kyle slowly get up, see me looking at him, and them smiled crookedly as he gave me a thumbs up. I grinned back and shot a thumbs up back at him before disappearing into the house.

After walking down a nice hallway, we took a turn to the right and into the living room we were! Sitting on the couch with her back perfectly straight, long, straight white hair with a tinge of purple flowed down her back, was my first senior. She turned to face me with a noble's face, and smiled as she welcomed me over to sit down.

Akemi quickly introduced me to her, and then her to me.

"Shizuka-san, this is Kazuki! He's the person I've been talking about! And Kazuki, this is Shizuka. Shizuka Wakana. She's our senpai!"

"N-n-nice to meet you Shizuka-san."

"Mhhm~ Nice you meet you too Kazuki-kun! Akemi's told me all about you~ Mhhm! I mean, ALL about you... *wink*"

"I-I-I-Idiot! W-what are you talking about Shizuka-san! I-I-I d-d-don't talk about Kazuki-kun that often..."

Shizuka and Kyle both raised an eyebrow, eyeing the fidgeting Akemi suspiciously, then turned to face each other. After their gazes met, they nodded in a synchronized manner and then got up and began to mime themselves eating at a dinner table.

Shizuka asked in a nonchalant manner, "Aaaakemi-chaan? Do you have anything you'd like to saaaaay? Mhhhm?"

Then I saw a sight that would never leave my mind ever again. Kyle, while imitating Akemi in the worst possible manner, said in an extremely girly (but yet kind of moe) voice, "Uunnnn! K-K-Kazuki-kun is soooo coool! Kazuki-kun is soooo strooong! Kazuki-kun is suuuuuch a gentleman! D-d-did I tell you about that time he carried me to the Battle Room? Unnnnn! K-K-KAZUUUKII-KUUUUN, AHHHHNNNNNN! KAZUUUKIIII-"

*O-o-o-oh my God...th-th-that's actually kinda...cut- WHAT AM I THINKING? AHHHH!*

As I scratched my head furiously, deeply immersed in my own thoughts while watching Kyle act out Akemi, I noticed a flaming aura appearing around Akemi. In an instant, Kyle's imitation was cut off as Akemi smashed the back of his head with her slipper, causing his face to face plant right into the imaginary table.

"I-i-i-idiots! I-I-I d-d-don't talk about K-Kazuki-kun l-l-like that..." Akemi's face was as red as an apple. She then brought her right hand to her mouth and her left down tugging her mini skirt uniform gently downwards as she whispered, "d-d-don't believe them...okay?" She peeked up to look at my face, face still red, and then continued, "...okay, Kazuki-kun?"

*Hagwahhh! So...cute...amazing... This is too much for me...ahh, my nose...nose bleed! Bad, this is bad...*

"So...cute..."

*Ara? Wait a second...*

I stopped my train of thought abruptly and looked around the room at the shocked faces that stared back at me.

*Did...I...just...just...just just just...say that...out...lo...u...d?*

Kyle and Shizuka seemed to have read my thoughts and nodded vigorously while maintaining their shocked expressions. I looked back and forth between them, feeling blood slowly rising to my head. I blushed heavily and then turned to look at Akemi, only to find that her face had just become an even darker shade of red.

Akemi looked towards the floor to the side and brought both of her hands up in front of her mouth, taking constant peeks at me. Then after a few seconds, she covered her face with her hands and asked,

"D-d-do you really think so...?"

Taken by surprise, I answered automatically without thinking,

"Un..."

Hearing my answer, Akemi buried her face deeper into her hands as steam started rolling out her ears. Kyle, Shizuka, and I all stared at her, waiting for a response of some sort. After staring at Akemi for about 5 seconds, it was as if she exploded, as if something inside of her snapped, and she ran out of the room crying,

"I-I-I'M GOING TO GO TAKE A BATH! AND KYLE BETTER NOT COME PEEK AGAIN!"

Kyle and Shizuka burst out laughing but abruptly stopped when they saw me. I faced downwards, my eyes covered by a dark shadow. My entire body was shaking slightly as my hands were clenched tightly at my side. I gritted my teeth and a murderous aura appeared around me.

"Ho... 'Again' she says... 'Again' huh..."

Kyle's face started turning pale as he heard my repeated mutterings of, "Again...again...again...".

I then suddenly looked up and glared at Kyle, demanding,

"Well, my dear Kyle, care to explain, 'again'?"

"Ah...ha...ha...I-I-I don't know what Akemi is t-t-talking about..."

"Kyle."

"N-n-not at all..."

"Kyle."

"Ah...ha...ha..."

"Kyle."

"Ha...ha...well it won't happen again?"

"KORAAAA, SO YOU ADMIT IT YOU SKANK! YOU PIECE OF FILTH! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE MY AKEMI WITH YOUR LEWD EYES! YOU DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING DID YOU? IF YOU DID I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! YOU ASS IS MINE TODAY, AND I SURE AM GOING TO BEAT THEM BLACK AND BLUE! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE! KORAAAAAA!"

"AHHHH, KAZUKI, CALM DOWN! YOU AREN'T THINKING STRAIGHT! HUH? WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET THAT CHAINSAW FROM? AHHHH! STAHPP, STAHP! KAZUKIIIII AHHHHHHHH!"

As I chased Kyle out from the living room, Shizuka put her hand to her mouth and chuckled,

"'my' Akemi huh..."

She then placed both hands on each of her cheeks and wiggled her body from side to side,

"Ahhhhhnnn~~ so cuuuute! Ah, youth!"

After Akemi finished showering, Kyle and I took our respective showers as well. After both of us finished, we headed over to the dining room (beside and attached to the kitchen) to be served our food. I seated myself beside Kyle, and Akemi seated herself beside me. Shizuka seated herself at the end of the table after she's placed all the food on the table.

*Yare yare...all this food...from the convenience store...no wonder the kitchen looks so clean...it's never been used...*

I looked distastefully at the food, then looked around the table. Nobody seemed to have noticed my discomfort. In fact, the three of them looked quite at peace eating all this junk food.

"""Itadakimasu!""" the three of them said, before digging into the food. I took one last glance at the assortment of convenience bentos before sighing and digging in as well.

"Ara? Why did you sigh Kazuki? Are you not used to eating convenience foods?" Shizuka asked after she saw me sigh.

"Uhh...erm...well I usually cook my own dinners so I'm not really used to eating so much fast food..."

"Hmm? I wouldn't really call it fast food...Ara? Wait. Kazuki-kun, YOU COOK?"

I looked around the table at the surprised expressions once more. I semi-closed my eyelids in disappointment and sighed again.

"Y-y-you didn't know...?"

All three of them shook their heads vigorously, completely synchronized, and Akemi said,

"Wow~! Kazuki-kun! Amazing!"

"Ha..ha..ha...it's nothing really..."

Kyle looked at my with approving eyes as he said in a passionate manner,

"A-a-a true man amongst men. I'm honoured to know you."

"Uh...ha..ha...um...thanks?"

I then turned my gaze to Shizuka, who's eyes have become glinting stars. I sensed an intense aura flowing out of her.

*W-w-woah! S-s-strong! I wonder what's gotten her so passionate...*

"y...y...y...YAHOOOO! HOMEMADE COOKING! KORAAAA! FROM NOW ON, KAZUKI-KUN WILL BE THE CHOSEN ONE! THE KITCHEN IS YOURS! KORAAAA! ARIGATO KAMI-SAMA! YAHOOO!"

The three of us, Kyle, Akemi, and I, stared at the wildly dancing Shizuka in amazement.

"Ah...um...alright then." Kyle stuttered while averting his gaze in an embarrassed manner.

"Ha...ha...seems like 8 years of convenience bentos can really change you huh..." Akemi said, replicating Kyle's actions.

"Ha...ha...h- EIGHT YEARS?" I looked at the still dancing Shizuka with new found amazement in my eyes... "I-I-Incredible...Shizuka..."

Suddenly, I remembered something. My eyes lit up as I raised a hand and asked,

"Uhh...Akemi-san? I thought you said that there were two senpais? Where's the other one?"

Akemi turned around to look at me in a confused manner, then quickly realized and said,

"O-o-oh! I-I-I forgot to tell you back in the living room! The other...um..." The four of us suddenly recalled the events from this morning and Akemi's face turned completely red again.

"O-oi..Akemi...a-are you alrigh-"

Akemi's body started shaking, and then suddenly, she exploded and yelled,

"IDIOT KYLE! IDIOT SHIZUKA! STUPID STUPID STUPID!"

before running as fast as she could out of the dining room.

I looked at her, my bottom eyelid twitching.

*Uhh...um...a-a-alright then...*

Kyle laughed and then said,

"Since Akemi-chan ran away, why don't you explain to him then Shizuka-senpai?"

"Hmm~ Alright I guess~ Your other senpai's name is Rin Tomoko. She spends most of her time in her room cooking up your training menus..."

*Cooking up...? Almost sounds like our training menus are from hell...I wonder what's up with that...*

"...also, if you're going to ask her a question, just ask her through her door. She'll answer you by giving you an electronic message. Never, and I mean never, go into her room. She hates it when people go into her room. The only person allowed to go in is me. Is that understood?"

Surprised by Shizuka's sudden seriousness, I quickly nodded.

"U-un..."

"Mhhhm~ Good! Um...I guess there's not much else to say...she doesn't really like coming out of her room...she'll give you your training menus electronically, and you'll just follow what's written on them...oh, and trust me, although she may never come out of her room, she knows how to train people. In fact, she used to be the best fighter in the school until-"

A sudden electronic buzz from all our mobile devices stopped Shizuka from continuing.

[[[Say one more word, my Shizuka, and you'll have Hell to pay for. I promise. 3 Oh, and the newbies, don't listen to her. She's an airhead.]]]

*Ah...*

Vertical lines appeared under my left eye as the bottom eyelid twitched.

*What's with this...uh...very 'loving' message...? Rin-senpai huh...looks like my high school life just got a little more interesting...*

As we sat in awkward silence, repeatedly reading Rin-senpai's loving message, Akemi peeked her head back through the doorway.

"G-guys? I-I'm here to get some more food...I'm h-hungry..."

All three of us jumped at her voice, turned around in shock, and then laughed out loud.

"Haha, sure Akemi! Come join us again!"

"I promise I won't peek or make fun of you anymore! Haha!"

"Me neither! Come, come!"

We gestured for Akemi to come over and the skipped over and quickly seated herself beside me again.

"Anyways," Shiuzka then said after we were all comfortably seated, "A toast to our new room and house mate! To Kazuki-kun!"

****"""Cheers!"""


	6. Soda?

BRINGGGG

"Okay class, everyone get seated. It's time to start class."

"Yes Mika Sensei~!"

The classroom consisted of 5 columns and 6 rows in total. Having not paid attention to who was sitting to my other side, I seated myself to the right next to Kyle, who sat in the second seat of the centre column. Akemi, seated herself in front of me, in the first row.

"Okay class, today we'll be covering Beasts as well as what kinds of magic are out there. Can someone tell me what a Beast is?"

A hand shot up in the front row.

"Yes? You? Um...Chitose-san?"

"A Beast is a creature originated from the Hole. The body make up of a Beast is unknown since it breaks up the moment the Beast fully dies. Any severed sections also breaks up immediately. Beasts have immense physical strength and speed and can easily overpower any normal human easily. However, a Beast's intellect is much less than that of a human's. Beasts have several different ways to attack. A Beast can either attack you directly or a Beast can possess you. Finally, Beasts have no magic."

*Huh...? But I was sure I heard the Beast's voice during the Battle Royale...maybe I was just imagining things. Yeah, I probably was. Whatever, back to class.*

"Mhhm! Very good Chitose-san! You got most of that right. However, I'd like to ask you next, are Beasts the only things that come out of the Hole?"

A chilly silence quietly swept through the class. In a quiet voice, Ms. Mika continued, completely serious,

"You must take what I say to heart and you must remember my next few words. Beasts are not the only kinds of monsters that come out of the Hole. So far, we have discovered 2 kinds of monsters that come from the Hole, and we are almost certain that there are many more kinds of monsters in the Hole that just haven't come out yet. 2 kinds of monsters. The first, the weaker one, is the one everyone knows. The Beast. However, the second one is much like an evolved version of a Beast. Only recorded to have appeared in history once so far, the second kind of monster that originates from the Hole that has shown it's face in this universe is called a Tyrant. Does everyone remember the incident 5 years ago?"

Everyone nodded quietly. Who couldn't remember? Earth went into a state of emergency 5 years ago, where it was recorded that an unknown life form had attempted to take over Earth. It almost succeeded but was eventually stopped. It was also recorded that the unknown life form had managed to take over 95% of Earth.

"The incident 5 years ago was caused by an unknown life form right? After much review and analysis and analysis of whatever tapes, recordings, and photos were left with several other planets including the planet hosting UMAM, we have come to the conclusion that the life form was unmistakably a Beast. However, it was able to perform perfect speech, it had intellect, and it possessed vast amounts of magic. Not to mention it also looks far more refined than the everyday Beast you'd see. We eventually concluded that this monster was an evolved Beast and we named it Tyrant. The planets agreed that any sightings of Tyrants would and must be reported immediately to local planets in their sectors. All in all, Beasts are strong enough to kill masses of people, but Tyrants are able to wipe out entire planets. Is what I just said clear?"

Everyone nodded and one person cried out in the back,

"Why didn't you tell everybody else out there to watch out for these Tyrants?"

"So we won't cause as much chaos and fear. Anymore questions?"

Silence.

"So, moving on, can someone tell me what kinds of magic are out there? Please put up your hand if you have an answer."

A hand shot up from my right side. I turn around to see the face of my hardcore nemesis, Haruo Daiki. Haruo and I fought in the finals match during the Battle Royale, and having lost to him, I held slight feelings of resentment towards him. I particularly disliked how he used his own teammate as a sacrifice to summon his Beast.

"Yes Haruo?"

"There currently exists 4 main types of magic. Each magic is split into levels, such as level 1, 2, 5, 9, etc. The higher the level, the stronger the magic. In some types of magic, such as Burst magic, there are subcategories of magic. For example, Burst magic users can have Fire Burster, Water Burster, Lightning Burster, etc. Finally, the 4 main types of magic are Healing magic, the hardest by far because one needs to be born with the ability to heal, and cannot be learnt, Summoning magic, which is often considered equally as difficult to learn as Healing magic because of its danger implications, but can be learnt by those born without it, Burst magic, which is the second most common and also the second easiest to learn, and finally Accel magic, which is the most common and easiest to learn. One usually learns Accel first, before upgrading their magic into Burst, Healing, or Summoning."

On that note, Haruo purposefully turned around to look me in the eye, as if to say,

"Ha, your magic is the weakest."

I snorted in response and turned away from his smirking face.

"In fact, Haruo, you are wrong."

I raised an eyebrow and then turned back to Haruo, smirking.

What comes around, goes around right? Serves you right for being so damned cocky. Hmph.

"Alright class, who can tell me the last two forms of magic? Perhaps Kazuki? Of all peopl, you should be more familiar with the last two kinds of magic."

I could feel the entire classes eyes on me. A cold sweat washed over me and my mouth froze. My eyes bulged outwards like a fish as I remained silent. I quickly thought back,

*What kinds of magic did I use? I've only ever recalled using Accel magic consciously...wait...using magic unconsciously...*

I suddenly remembered the events of the Battle Royale, and how I saw the Beast use magic.

*But what is the other form of magic she was talking about?*

"Kazuki? Just tell me one if you can, you don't have to do both."

"O-oh...alright. Um...B-Beast magic?"

I heard the class snicker. It was widely believed that Beasts did not possess the abilities to use magic since magic requires high level thinking. Since Beasts were believed to be just plain, dumb monsters that simply followed their instincts to eat and hunt people, the majority of people did not believe that Beasts could use magic.

"Very good Kazuki! Unlike what you've been told for the past 15-16 years of your lives, Beasts can actually use magic. Not much is known since the study of Beast magic is far too dangerous, but we do know one or two things. First of all, Beast magic is made up of a black characters instead of blue characters, like how human magic is consisted of. Also, unlike human magic, Beast magic can possess several different characteristics, unlike human magic. Beast magic can shoot beams, summon items, reinforce certain things such as their claws, and can allow them to possess humans and animals. Finally, Beast magic is believed to be in an entirely different language, making it impossible for humans to learn and understand. Therefore, technically, Beast magic is impossible for humans to learn or use. Any questions?"

A student cried out,

"What do you mean 'technically,?"

I heard Haruo beside me cry out,

"Yeah! I mean, how was it that Kazuki could use Beast magic when I fought him in the finals?"

*Huh? I used Beast magic? I don't remember...in fact, I don't think I remember much of the final Battle Royale battle at all...*

A murmur rose from the rest of the classroom as the rest if the students started wondering the same things as me.

"Class, settle down, settle down! Yes, Kazuki used Beast magic in his fight with Haruo. This point leads me to my topic: the final kind of Beast magic. The final kind of Beast magic is possessed magic. Humans typically cannot use Beast magic, but if a human is possessed by a Beast, they will gain the ability to use Beast magic."

Despite Ms. Mika's best efforts, the class burst into nervous chatter this time. I, myself, began to feel extremely confused.

*Huh? I'm possessed by a Beast? How? I don't feel any different...*

"Class! Quiet down! Kazuki is perfectly safe to hang around, I can assure you. The thing about possessed magic is that even though the person has been possessed, the Beast that attempted to possess him is now dead."

The nervous mutterings of the class seemed to have calmed down slightly after she's said that.

"A body can only hold one consciousness. Therefore, when a Beast attempts to overtake someone, the Beast's consciousness usually takes over and the former owner of the body's consciousness dies, effectively killing the former owner of the body. However, in very rare cases, the human mind can overtake the Beast's consciousness, killing the Beast but still keeping the Beast's powers. Only a very small, minute fraction of people are able to defeat a Beast if it tries to take over your body. The action requires incredible amounts of concentration, determination, high levels of magic, and a lot of luck. Even will all the training in the world, it is still very hard to defeat a Beast. Currently, there is only 9 people, not including Kazuki, who have successfully managed to do so."

The murmur seemed to have disappeared. Everyone was shooting me slight glances but I ignored it. I was too engrossed in thinking,

*When was I ever possessed by a Beast...?*

"Next, a few notes on possessed magic. Much like Beast magic, we don't know very much about this kind of magic. It possesses all the abilities of regular Beast magic, but often needs a seal to hold in. The reason for this is that even though the original Beast has died, it's emotions are still in the container it tried to possess, so without a seal, one can go insane with feelings of hate, envy, lust, etc. Kazuki, I believe your seal is your cross necklace? It seems like quite a strong seal, could you tell the class where you got it?"

"Um...actually, I'm not so sure myself...I can't really remember..."

I scratched the back of my head in an embarrassed manner.

"Hmm...not surprising. I forgot to mention, but possessors of Beast magic typically cannot recall the events of when they were possessed. Most of them will typically experience amnesia."

*Ho...so that's why I can't remember my childhood...argh! It's so frustrating...I want to know!*

BRINGGGGGGGG~~~~

"Okay class! Class is over! Head home safely and remember to get to school on time okay? See you tomorrow!"

I walked slowly out of the classroom, forgetting about Akemi and Kyle, deep in my own thoughts. All of a sudden, a voice broke me out of my deep thinking. I know this voice. This annoying voice. Haruo.

"Hmph, who knew you had such high leveled magic huh? As expected of my rival. Don't expect me to go easy on you though, so don't go easy on me either. G-gottit?"

"U-um...okay...right"

As I watched him leave, I thought,

*Huh? What was that all about?*

As if reading my thoughts, Kyle said behind me,

"Damn that Haruo. He had a really big ego to begin with, now knowing that he's beaten someone as incredible as you, his ego's probably gotten even bigger. You gotta show him up a level next time eh?"

"O-oh...Kyle?"

"Hmm?"

"A-aren't you afraid of me? I'm kinda afraid myself...for having such a power...I mean, my seal could break anytime..."

"Haha, are you kidding? We're best friends here, there's no way I'd be afraid of you. If you were to ever go insane, I'll beat you up for Akemi eh?"

He winked naughtily. Suddenly, I heard Akemi's voice on the other side of me.

"It's true Kazuki, we'll always stick at your side right?"

"G-guys..."

I could feel myself tearing up a bit. To completely destroy the mood, I suddenly heard a familiar voice behind me.

"AHHHHH~~~ s-s-so CUUUUTE! 'We'll be with you forever' 'g-guys...' ...TOOO CUUUUTE!"

The three of us turned around to see Ms. Mika's sister, Ms. Akko behind us.

"M-ms. Aiko? What are you doing here?"

"Mhhhm, noooothing~ I'm just here to check on my sister~"

We eyed Ms. Aiko suspiciously.

"Oh! Also, Kazuki, try not to push past Accel 3. Anything past that, and your seal might break. Blame it on the sheer amount of magic you have. Too much magical stress and the seal may beak you know! Get some training first. From Rin-Senpai~ I'm sure she will be able to help you control that monstrous power inside of you~ bye bye now! Have a good day! Train hard!"

She beamed brightly at us before skipping off into the classroom.

*What did she mean...? Rin-Senpai...? Whatever. I'll figure out when I get home.*

Akemi, Kyle, and I stood in the backyard of our C17 dorm, facing the house.

[Alright you hatchlings. Today I will be testing your physical abilities. The exception being Akemi-chan. Shizuka, who specializes in healing magic as well, will be giving Akemi her own kind of evaluation test. Understood?]

"""Yes Rin-senpai!"""

[Good. Now off you go Akemi-chan.]

"Akemi~! Over here!" cried Shizuka while gesturing for Akemi to go back into the house. After Akemi left, Kyle and I then received new messages from Rin.

[Alright you two, your first task is to get a crate of Z-Bop Soda each for me.]

Feeling a little confused, I turned to face Kyle and asked,

"Couldn't you just buy one from the...convenie..."

My question faded away when I saw Kyle's completely pale face. His body seemed to be shaking slightly... or maybe it was just my imagination.

"A...a...a...a Z-Bop S-s-soda...?"

[humph, seems like Kyle, here, understands the task. Explain to poor Kazuki what to do and I'll be expecting you back by 10:00pm. Any later and you'll be doing 100 push-ups each. Off you go now.]

*Huh...? Isn't it only 3:56 pm...? Why 10:00 pm...?*

I continued staring curiously at Kyle, and then asked,

"What's so scary about a Z-Bop Soda?"

"It's a soda that can only be found in residential area Z."

As the information sunk in, my eyes began to open wide with fear.

*H-h-hold up...isn't sector Z...over 40 something kilometers away...?*

As if to answer my question, Kyle said,

"Exactly 42.5 kilometers away, the total trip there and back is 85 kilometers. A crate of any soda is 20.25 kg. And we need to get back by 10:00pm."

We stood in silence as Kyle's words slowly sunk in. I heaved a sigh and looked up at the sky.

"Why is the sky so blue Kyle?"

"Because sadness is contagious"

"I see."

"..."

"Kyle?"

"...?"

"You don't know how to use Accel do you?"

"No."

I turned around and looked Kyle dead in the eyes while placing my right hand on his left shoulder.

"Godspeed good sir. Best of luck."

Kyle smiled back angelically as he grabbed my right wrist with his right hand.

"Oh no you don't."

"Kyle."

"Mhm?"

"Let go."

"No."

"Kyle."

"No."

"Kyle."

"No."

"Kyle?"

"4:00"

"..."

We continued to smile angelically at each other for another good few seconds.

The scenery whipped by us as we raced through the different residences.

"*huff* Why...did it end up...like this...*huff*"

"Mhhm...because if we're going to go at my pace, we'll never make it there and back."

"True, BUT I STILL DON'T FUCKING WANT TO PIGGYBACK YOU 42.5 KM YOU GODDAMN TUB OF FODDERJUICE."

"Fodderjuice. Good one. Never heard of it before."

"Oh, why thank yo- STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT!"

"Hey, 5:30 pm now."

"Shut up, I'm doing my best."

"Tick tock~"

"You ass."

"Actually, seeing as how ass is also another word for donkey and donkeys carry stuff, I'd say you're more appropriately the ass."

"Smartass."

"Shut up and run you fodderjuice."

After about 2 and a half hours of running, I've somehow miraculously carried Kyle 42.5 km and we're now standing in front of a convenience store in residential area Z. I was soaked in sweat, groaning and lying on the ground beside a standing and completely energized Kyle.

"That was a nice run eh?"

"Yeah...*huff*... But you didn't do shit..."

"I disagree. I've been providing over 2 hours worth of quality comedy."

"We seem to be on a different page when it comes to comedy."

"Whatever. Anyways, we've got about 3 hours and 20 minutes to get back. I've already bought the two crates of soda and man they were heavy."

"Great. Give me a moment. Still trying to catch my breath."

"We'll, I'm going to head on back now. You catch up eh? You've still got some juice in you to use Accel."

"Oka- wait what? You're just going to leave me? And what are you talking about? I've run out of juice 10 minutes before we arrived...""

"Yep."

"No, please. Look at all I've done for you, I-"

"Seeya."

As I laid on the ground, I saw Kyle moving away, carrying the heavy crate of soda.

"Damn that Kyle..."

I muttered under my breath as I heaved my body upright.

"Got...to...get...going..."

I slowly stood up and heaved at the crate of soda.

"Okay Kazuki, you got this. Just 42.5 more kilometers with this weight. It's not even as heavy as Kyle. You can do this. Lets, guoooooouf." I muttered to myself.

I heaved the crate up and began my long trip back.

Kyle got back at 9:50 and I arrived at 10:00 on the dot.

[hmph, not bad you two. You both pass. But Kyle has to do 50 push-ups for skipping the trip there and riding Kazuki.]

"Hey! Wha- how did you know?"

[Kyle, I'm not stupid. That's another 10 push-ups for underestimating me.]

"Wha-"

"Hey Kyle, what goes around, comes around. See ya later sucka~"

"Damnit..."

"Now then, time for my shower."

I walked down the hallway towards the first floor washroom. As I opened then door, I saw a slender body, completely naked in front of me. The body was turned away from me but you could still tell that the owner of the body was extremely attractive. Fine, smooth muscles covered the body and an almost golden glow came from the flawless skin.

"A-a-a-Akemi...chan?"

She turned around to face me, her face going from a tint of pink all the way to beet root red.

"K-k-"

"K?"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"UWOOOOOOHHHHHH!"

SMACK.

*Ah...it stings...the pain...I can see a light...*

As my eyes stopped spinning, I realized that I had slipped and have fallen onto the ground

*huh...what's this sensation...? Such smooth softness...so tender yet...so...grope-able. Wait. Grope-able!?*

I looked down to see that Akemi had fallen on top of me. Her naked and smooth body lay unprotected in my arms. From behind me, I heard a voice say,

"Kazuki, you lucky bastard..."

"Huh? Kyle? No, this is a misunderstanding, wait-"

"It's alright Kazuki. I understand. A man's desires are not to be underestimated."

"There's a surprisingly large amount of truth in what you just said."

I felt the weight on my body shift a little. Akemi seemed to have come to and began pushing her body up. Remembering that she was bare naked, I quickly grabbed her body and pulled her body towards mine in attempt to hide it from Kyle's perverted eyes.

"H-huh...?"

"Wow...bold move Kazuki...I didn't think you had it in you...you've impressed me...anyways, see ya. Going to get out of here before things get ugly."

*Phew...thank God Kyle didn't see anything...huh...? What's this murderous aura I'm feeling?*

"K-Kazuki...w-w-what do you think you're doing?"

Remembering that I had Akemi tightly held against my chest as we lay on the floor, I slowly turned my head in a twitching manner to look at Akemi's face. She smiled angelically at me and said,

"Die."

Despite her thin and fairly small body, one needs to remember that Akemi is a terrifying person who possesses Level 3+ strength.

A train. I was hit by a train.

*So this is what it feels like to get punched by 3 levels worth of strength...*

I thought as I soared down the hallway, hitting and cracking the shoe shelf near the doorway. As I lay dazed in a pile of shoes, Akemi grabbed a towel and ran up the stairs while yelling, "KAZUKIDIOT!"

When I came to, I saw a message waiting for me. It was from Rin.

[Did you like my gift? I told Shizuka to tell Akemi that she can use the first floor washroom today. Although I must say, it was quite bold of you to grab and hold Akemi to you like that...in front of Kyle too...didn't know you were interested in that kind of stuff...I'll keep that in mind for next time. Kyle's already taken his shower. The washroom is all yours. Oh, you're paying for the shoe shelf by the way. That's all. I'll message you tomorrow. Goodnight.]

*uwah...I should've known... Huh? I've got to pay for it...? Ugh...my wallet...which reminds me, I'll need to see the principal for my job. I DID lose my other job after they found out that I wasn't actually over 18 years old yet...sigh...*

I mumbled to myself as I dragged my feet over to the shower. After my shower, I went into my room and fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, I woke up at 5:00am. I got up, got dressed, and left for school. Once I reached the school, I headed straight for the principal's room.

Knock knock knock.

A deep voice rumbled,

"Mhm, please, come in."

I gently pushed the door open to see the back of a large chair. As I entered, the black chair slowly spun around and the principal came into view.

"I've been expecting you"

3 lines appeared under my left eye as it twitched.

*Why...does this feel so cliched...*

"Kazuki, due to your special circumstances, I've decided that you won't have to work, and that all your living fees will be provided by the school. However, I'll be expecting a lot from you. Do not disappoint me, or I promise I will drag you to the very depths of Hell, and you know I can do it. Study hard. That will be all. Begone."

*huh? Begone?"

A trap door opened under me all of a sudden and I fell in.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I hit the floor hard and I found myself lying in front of my first period classroom, in front of Haruo. Hs expression clearly expressed his feelings. However, he said anyways,

"...the fuck?"

"Sorry."

"...you met with the principal didn't you?"

"Huh? How'd you know?"

"I've met him too."

"Ah, I see. That explains why."

"Anyways, get out of my way. It's time for class."

"R-right."

I slowly heaved my body upright and headed into class with Haruo.

After school, I waited at the front gate for Kyle and Akemi. After about 5 minutes of waiting, I saw Akemi rush over.

"H-Heya Kazukicchi. Kyle's meeting up with some girls and he says he's going to go home a little later than us, so we can leave first."

"Ah, I see."

Allow me to explain. My new nickname, after Kazukidiot, is Kazukicchi. Why? Because after yesterday's episode, I've earned the name, Kazuki + ecchi. Kazukicchi. Thank you for listening. Back to the story.

We strolled back slowly in awkward silence. After yesterday's episode still fresh in our minds, we couldn't help but feel awkward.

"h-hey Akemi? I'm sorry about yesterday...I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay."

"R-really?"

"A man's desires are not to be underestimated."

"..."

Akemi then turned to face me and then laughed,

"I'm just joking, I'll forgive you if you do something for me."

"O-okay! What?"

In a small voice, Akemi stuttered,

"C-c-carry me back. Like you did on the orientation day."

"You sure?"

After seeing her nod, I didn't hesitate and I swept her up into the princess carry. I whispered,

"Accel"

And sped through the streets as blue characters spun and wrapped themselves around me. It may have just been my imagination, but I could see that Akemi had a sligh blush on her face as I held her in my arms.

We arrived home soon after and I let Akemi down. Shizuka was already waiting at the gate when we arrived. She quickly waved us into the house.

"Hey, where's Kyle?"

"Flirting."

"Typical."

Just as Shizuka and Akemi finished their exchange, we heard a voice behind us,

"Oi! That's mean guys..."

I turned my head around and said,

"Oh. You're back eh? Welcome back."

"Thanks Kazukicchi."

"You too?"

"Do you prefer Kazukidiot?"

"Shaddup."

After Kyle and I have finished our exchange, the 4 of us entered the living room. As we made ourselves comfortable, we all received a message from Rin.

[Alright. Akemi and Flirtyboy will be studying with Shizuka and I will give Kazuki private lessons. Is that understood? Flirtyboy, even though Shizuka's main magic is healing, her secondary magic Burst. She's a heck of a lot stronger than you so don't underestimate her. That's all. Kazuki, I'll see you in the mountain range in 10 minutes. Shizuka, you know what to do. That's all. Dinner is at 7:00pm.]

The four of us sat in silence for a moment before Shizuka broke the silence.

"She's as straightforward as always...but you heard her! Kyle and Akemi, follow me. Kyle, you head on over to the mountain range. Knowing Rin, she's probably already there."

****"""Okay!"""


	7. Training

Within the mountain range, there was a large field located in a valley. I arrived at the predetermined meeting spot and saw a silhouette already waiting for me under a tree. As I approached the silhouette, it moved from under the tree to greet me. It was Rin-Senpai. She was around the same height as me, which was tall for a girl. Her chestnut colored hair was cut short and only got around to her neck. She wore a medical eyepatch with a weird looking design on it. However, what shocked me the most was the fact that her entire left arm was missing.

"So you're Kazuki huh."

"y-yeah."

"Is my left arm really that interesting?"

She raised a fine eyebrow as she snazzily placed her right hand on her hip while leaning on her right leg.

"U-uh sorry, no. Nothing. Nevermind."

I quickly averted my eyes from her left arm and turned my head to the side looking downwards as I scratched my cheek.

"Haha, it's okay. Happens all the time. Anyways, more importantly, training time. I'd like to see your Beast possession ratio."

"Huh? Beast possession ratio?"

I faced Rin as I asked. My eyebrows scrunched together as I racked my head.

*Did Mika-sensei talk about this in class? I don't remember...I'm sure I paid attention in class...*

"Oh, sorry. You shouldn't know that term yet. It's taught later on I believe..." Rin said as she looked up at the sky and scratched her chin. She sighed quickly and said,

"We'll, no matter. I'll tell you what it is now I guess. It's quite important so pay attention. Beast possession ratio is how much the Beast's lingering emotions have taken over your mind either consciously or unconsciously. The more it takes over, the more likely you are to lose yourself and become a second degree Beast. A second degree Beast is when possessed beings, like you, lose control and your consciousness. Anyways, going back to the topic. So far, out of the 9 existing people, the highest Beast possession ratio is 40%. Any higher and the user will lose control and become a second degree Beast. Any questions so far?"

Despite her quick explanations, I found them surprisingly concise and easy to understand. I quickly nodded my head as I focused once more to her explanation.

"Good. You catch on quick. Next. We'll talk about seals. Your seal is the cross you wear on your chest. One should not ever remove it under any circumstances. Without a seal, your Beast ratio can go out of control immediately and you could instantly become a second degree Beast. Very few people have been able to remove a seal and put it back on while retaining their consciousness. Only 1 person ever has taken their seal off and kept enough consciousness to continue fighting. That person is you Kazuki."

My eyes widened as my jaw dropped. I pointed at myself and blinked several times.

*What? M-me...?*

"The reason why I'm here to train you is because the principal believes that with enough practice, you'll be able to achieve a lot. The reason why you could continue fighting without the seal is because your consciousness and "willpower" if you will, is strong enough to handle the Beasts emotions. However, that does not mean you should just take off your seal just like that. Without training, it's still very possible for you to lose yourself. What I'm saying is that you have the potential to be great, but you pretty much suck right now. Any questions?"

"N-no." I stuttered as I mentally reeled from the painful blow.

*Wow...ouch. Looks like I've still got ways to go...but why learn from Rin though...? Shouldn't learning with a teacher be much better?*

"Alright. Hang in there. I'm sorry for talking so much. Final tidbit of information. The reason why you're not receiving this training from a teacher is because its best for a possessed Beast user to learn from another possessed Beast user, especially when the other possessed Beast user used to formally be the strongest of the 9 possessed Beast users, the one who set the record of 40% Beast possession ratio."

My eyes slowly widened again as her words sank in. Realization overtook me as I stared agape at hear.

"Y-you mean you're-"

"Yep. I was formerly the strongest possessed Beast user. My seal is my eyepatch, and 'formerly' because I lost this arm. How? Well, we'll leave that story for another time. Next! Finally, something you can do. So stop staring at me with your mouth open drooling and let's get started."

"I-I wasn't drooling!"

She waved her hand casually as she laughed,

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Don't worry, I won't tell Akemi-chan that you find my body enticing."

She winked naughtily at me. My left bottom eyelid twitched as I thought,

*Guuuu...she's toying with me this Senpai...she's just messing with my mind...ahhhh...*

"Haha, anyways, as I said, lets get started. Kazuki, try to bring out your Beast magic. Oh, and don't try to bring it out by going into Accel 4. I don't want to risk forcefully breaking your seal because if you really lose your consciousness, it would be damn annoying dealing with you."

"Yes ma'am!"

I then proceeded in scrunching my eyebrows together, trying to bring out the Beast magic. I tried all the techniques I would use to bring out normal magic, but none of it worked. After about 20 minutes of me adopting all sorts of embarrassing poses, saying illegible and ridiculous things, Rin face palmed herself and growled,

"Ooookay Kazuki. That's enough. I don't think I ever want to see you dance like that ever again. Don't even get me started on what was coming out of your mouth."

"S-sorry..."

"Che...I guess I'll give you a hint as to how to bring it out. After all, you aren't a genius like me. Hmph. Well at least you did as you were told and didn't try to use Accel 4..."

I blushed embarrassedly and thought,

*Well sorry for being so lame...*

"Kazuki!"

I shook my head and returned to reality.

"Y-yes?"

"What made you go into 'Beast mode' if you will, when you were fighting during the First Year Battle Royale?"

"T-the Accel 4? A-and putting too much magical stress on my seal, thus breaking- "

"No! I'm looking for something else. How were you feeling when you lost control?"

I scratched my hair as I tried to recall the events from the Battle Royale. After having my eyebrows be scrunched for a couple minutes, my eyes widened in realization.

*I was angry! I-I was sad and frustrated and confused but I was definitely angry!"

"Hmph. Seems like you've realized how to bring out your Beast magic. However, just to make sure that you've got the right idea, it's feelings of sadness, envy, lust, and quite popularly, anger, that causes the Beast magic to react and come out. After all, the emotions the Beast leaves inside of you is directly correlated with its magic, so it's only natural that you can bring out your magic if you were feeling the same things as the Beast that tired to possess you. To sum up, just generally 'bad feelings' if you will, whether they are for yourself or someone else."

"Un!" I said as I nodded enthusiastically. "Alright! Lets do this!"

I stood upright with my arms slightly outstretched at my sides, my palms facing forward. I took a deep breath and began to search my mind for feelings of anger, sadness, envy, lust, etc.

*Hmm...I don't think I've ever been too sad before...maybe I'll try lust first.*

The very first thought that came to my mind was Akemi, how she was when I accidentally walked in on her showering. My eyebrow twitched twice.

*Well...my heart's certainly beating faster but I don't feel anything yet...guess I should try something else...how about anger? I don't think I can replicate how I felt back in the Battle Royale...I don't remember much...but if it's someone who makes me angry, it's got to be Haruo. Focus, focus on his face, his body...wait...what? Hs body?*

Images of a topless Haruo floated into my mind. I blushed slightly and then quickly shoot my head to get rid of the thought.

*n-n-nonononono. Absolutely not. That's not going to work. Damnit Kazuki, think! Is there ever a time in your life when you've felt- *

The incident from 10 years ago. Vivid images rushed back into my mind as my ears began to ring. I felt heat rush through my body as my eyes whipped open. My vision begins to fade as a wave of nausea takes washes over me. The sky looks like it's tinted in blood as my body began to feel like its burning up from the inside out. I reach up my right hand and grab my chest, right where my heart should be located. Images continued to cloud my mind as I remembered more and more of what happened 10 years ago.

*h-how did I forget...was I getting too lax these past few days...?*

*'haha, don't worry Kazuki, papa's just tir- %000033&jdkkk&$&...'*

*'GRWAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH'*

*'You did we'll...'*

*Blood. Gore. Arm. Mother. Father. Who. What. How. Why. Why. Why. Why. Wh-*

Everything suddenly whipped back to reality. My vision suddenly cleared and I saw Rin holding on to her broadsword, that she usually carries on her back, stabbed deep into the ground. Strong gusts of wind whipped away from me as clouds began to cloud overtop. Rain suddenly came pouring down as I realized that my body was engulfed in a thick looking black aura. Suddenly feeling weak at the knees, I knelt down while placing my left hang on the ground, my right hand still on my chest. As I knelt down, my back came into view to Rin.

"Wha..."

I heard her say as I looked up slowly, with a questioning look in my right eye. My left eye was closed as streaks of black characters came put of it and started covering the left side of my face. I saw that her eyes were widened and her mouth slightly agape. I tried to ask her what she was so surprised to see but no words are out of my mouth. What Rin was seeing was the fact that my black aura had taken shape of 2 wings on my back. I looked around some more, not realizing that I had 'wings', and came to realize that my right hand had become the black, crusted claw it was during the Battle Royale. I tried to open my left eye but found the task painful. The initial shock from the pain of trying to open my left eye brought my head facing back down to the ground. My entire body was soaked in sweat as I panted heavily. I slowly tried to open my left eye, and managed to bring it to a squint, revealing a blood red pupil in the pitch black that engulfed my entire eye. As I did so, I slowly looked up again at Rin to she her type something rapidly onto a screen, her body leaning heavily against her sword, still stabbed into the ground. After looking up, I continued to open my left eye. I finally got it half open when the pain hit me. It was something that hurt physically and mentally. A blow to my consciousness. My breath was knocked out of me as I doubled over holding my gut. My entire body shook as I kneeled on the ground, both of my eyes wide open, saliva dripping from my wide open mouth. A single droplet of blood came down from my left eye, leaving a red path in the black, left side of my face. My body whipped backwards as my back arched. I faced the dark, cloudy sky and howled into the rain.

"ah...ah...Ah...AH...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

A bolt of lightning, and then immediately afterwards, a thunderous boom that rang harmonically with my scream of insanity.

Shizuka squatted beside Akemi, who squatted beside Kyle, who lay flat on his back, panting for air. Kyle's body was covered in bruises and severe gashes from his training with Shizuka, and currently, Shizuka is teaching Akemi now to better utilize her healing magic, with Kyle as a guinea pig.

"So Akemi-chan, you should focus on purifying the bone marrow, mending the bone-"

"-and then purifying the blood while checking for impurities before sealing up the skin, right Shizuka-Senpai?"

"Ahaha yep! You catch on quick! Alright, get to work then!"

"Gah...Akemi...please...be gentle...it hurts...it..."

"I'm going to start now Kyle! Clench your teeth and stop talking! I don't want to have to heal your tongue too!"

"Ah...ow...oka- HGYUAAAAAAAAAA- *#%*+=+**€%#%^*+++*+++"

As Akemi worked happily away at the wound with Kyle screaming illegible things that have been censored out, Shizuka suddenly received a message.

"Huh? What's this? From Rin-San?"

[wre ging ti br ldte fir dinfr]

"Wre...we are...going...to be date? Late? Late. We are going to be late for...dinner?"

Both Akemi and Kyle stop what they were currently doing as the both turned their heads to face Shizuka.

""What?""

Shizuka fails to hear the two of them ask, and continues to decipher Rin's message.

"...we are going to be late for dinner...?"

All three of them instinctively turn to face the mountain range where Rin and Kazuki were training.

"...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

All of their eyes widen as they heard my scream. Akemi whips her head around to face the other two.

"W-wasn't that..."

Akemi's voice quietly fades out as Kyle says,

"Kazuki..."

Akemi turned to face Shizuka with worried eyes. However, Shizuka paid no attention. As rain began to hammer down, Shizuka continued to face the mountain range with a worrying expression. Under her breath, she whispers,

"Rin...San..."

I screamed illegibly as pain coursed through my body. The entire left side of my face was engulfed in black, the only thing standing out was my left pupil, which became blood red and took on a circular shape with a thing (a thing?) and pointed oval going though it. My entire right arm became engulfed in the charred looking black form of the claw that existed before, and the wings on my back grew to become double my body size each. My consciousness faded in and out as I forgot what reality was. Images of the incident from 10 years ago still whipped past in my mind as reality blended with history. I coughed up blood as I tried to stand up, getting to a crooked looking stance. After getting up onto both feet, my cross (seal) fell into view. It was glowing brightly.

"K-KAZUKI!" Rin roared over the whipping wind and booming thunder, "TRY SUPPRESSING YOUR MAGIC NOW! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS TO CONTINUE! YOUR SEAL IS REACHING ITS LIMIT!"

*huh? Did Rin jus say somethi- blood. Gore. Death. Mother. Mother. MOOTHERRRR!*

I roared as my consciousness faded out again and emotions from 10 years ago overrode my mind. My vision became distorted as all my other senses came under the harassment of the Beasts magic.

"Tsk...damn it. I guess there's no other way." Rin grumbled as she grabbed her medical eyepatch and moved it over her other eye, revealing her left eye. Her left eye looked similar to mine, being pitch black with a red pupil, but the shape of her pupil was different. Unlike mine, which looked like a combination of a circle with a cat's eye, her pupil was a circle with a blood colored ring around it. After removing her eyepatch, she whispered under her breath,

"Release, 40%"

Her torso became immediately ensconced in a wave of silky looking black, where her right hand became much like my claw, the only difference being that her claw wasn't charred and rough, but was refined and smooth. Her feet became wrapped in a silky looking black as well, forming what look like black boots. After this quick transformation, she rips her broadsword from the ground and leaps at me roaring,

"ORAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Sensing the murderous intent rapidly approaching me, I roared back and threw a punch forwards at Rin, causing a mountain of black energy to erupt towards her. The black energy reached a total height of 25 stories high, and was stopped abruptly by a giant blade of silver. Like a black mountain cut cleanly down in half, the giant blade of silver stopped to eruption from eradicating the mountains located behind Rin. Rin then proceeded in swinging her sword downwards vertically, causing another huge blade of silver to erupt forwards towards me. I leapt upwards and towards the side while throwing out another wave of black energy. The black energy swept downwards, covering the entire mountain range in black. Almost immediately, a blade of silver shot straight up as Rin jumped out of the sea of black. Doing an air jump, she leapt at me in midair as she swung her sword twice, creating 2 blades of silver that formed an 'x'. I grabbed the blades raw with my hands and was smashed into a mountain, creating a large crater. I roared in anger but was not affected much. However, being a seasoned fighter, Rin did not go easy on me, and flew after my body. She rammed her right foot on my chest as she brought her giant sword crashing down on my face. She smashed the tip of her sword into my left eye, creating something that looked like a silver blot of lighting behind and collinear to her sword. After an eruption of pain in my left eye, my mind suddenly went clear as I saw pure white. In a very cliched manner, Sakura leaves fell down from who knows where as a soft music fills my mind.

*ugh...w-what happen...e...d...*

My mind faded away as everything went black. On the outside, my black aura has ceased to nothing and my right arm and left face and eye have reverted back to normal. Rin had already pulled out her broadsword and had already slammed it into the ground beside me inside the crater. She sat beside my limp body as she panted, leaning her back against her sword.

"My...my...that was quite a workout wasn't it...give me a few minutes. I'll bring you back after that..."

*huh...?*

I gently opened my eyes and found myself lying in a dark room, facing the ceiling. I felt a wet towel placed only forehead, which slipped off as I slowly sat up. I noticed that Akemi had fallen asleep, sitting in a chair beside my bed with her head on the bed. I smiled gently and then cringed as a wave of pain came through my head.

"Ugh..." I groaned. Akemi murmured something in her sleep as she adjusted her body to feel more comfortable. I smiled looking at her again, and then gently stroked her hair as she slept.

*what happened...*

I eyes widened as I remembered what happened.

*No way, I need to check on Rin...*

I slowly got out of bed and slipped into my slippers. I then draped Akemi's body with my blanket before leaving my room. I walked down the dark hallway, noticing that the living room light was still on. I heard gentle whispering as I approached the living room, but couldn't hear what they were saying. The smell of coffee filled my nose. I peered through the doorway and squinted as my eyes adjusted to the light.

"R-Rin-Senpai? Shizuka-Senpai?"

"Oh, hey there Kazuki." Rin said as she turned her head around while gesturing for me to sit down beside her.

"You're finally awake eh?"

"Yes. H-how are your injuries Rin-Senpai?"

"Injuries? Bah, I've had much worse. With someone as good as Shizuka here to help me, I'm almost completely recovered. You?"

"M-me?"

"Yes, you. Who else here had injuries other than you and me? Certainly not Shizuka..."

Shizuka smiled apologetically and said, "be nice Rin-San, Kazuki-kun's had a hard day."

"Che. Fine...fine...so yea, how are you feeling?"

"I-I'm okay I guess. My head hurts a little but my body feels fine."

"That's one helluva body you e got there...to be fine after I've cut and stabbed at you so much. Pretty impressive."

"O-oh..."

"Kazuki-kun, Rin-San doesn't compliment people much. You should feel proud."

"O-oh...thanks...I guess."

"Mhhm. Oh yeah, Kazuki, you remember what happened today right? I don't know what you had in mind but it would be dangerous to release that much magic again. Refrain from doing so alright? I've also added a few more layers to your seal to make sure that what happened today won't happen again as easily. Next time, try to tone down your emotions a bit. It's good to start small, then work your way towards something bigger. Got it?"

"Y-yes."

"Anyways, Kazuki-kun, you have school tomorrow right? You should go get some rest now. And we should probably head to sleep too Rin-San."

Rin heaved a sigh and said, "Yea...I guess. Just let me finish my coffee..."

"Mhhm. Kazuki-kun, off to bed now. Good night." Shizuka smiled gently at me.

"G-goodnight Shizuka-Senpai. Rin-Senpai."

I headed back for my room after seeing Rin grunt and wave me away while sipping her coffee. After I returned to my room, I gently picked up Akemi and placed her in my bed, and then pulled the bed covers over her. I then took out a futon, a pillow, and a blanket from my closet and proceeded to lie down and sleep on the ground beside my bed. I fell soundly asleep immediately.

The next few weeks passes in relatively the same manner. I continued to train with Rin in the mountain range and have gotten slightly better at controlling my Beast magic, whereas Kyle and Akemi have both became fairly proficient in using their magic. I still occasionally lose control of my Beast magic but it happens a lot less now. I continues to stay away from trying to remember the incident from 10 years ago, fearing that I might completely lose control like I did the first time I trained with Rin. School days passed normally, with mock fights set up in the virtual world, and Akemi continued to remain the top student of the grade with me not far behind and Kyle somewhere down in the middle. Finally, as the days passed, the next battle event was announced. We, Akemi, Kyle, and I, sat in our seats when the announcement system came live.

[*click* "Hello student body. It is that time again, you will be participating in the class-separate squad battles. All students must participate. To the first years who don't understand what I mean, this will be a squad battle. Whoever is in your squad in the same grade as you will be your only teammates. You will fight against other squad members of the same grade. Think of this as an exam, where teachers will watch your fights and grade you on your improvement. Through the fights, a ranking system will also be created. The higher your rank, the more points it will add to your grade after the teachers have graded you. Yes, that means that the result of the battle DOES matter. If you think it's not fair, then let me tell you this: fights in real life are never fair. You could find yourself facing 100 people by yourself, so you may as well prepare yourself now. Is that understood? This is an exam for all grades and for all students. Be prepared. That's all. The battle will be noted a week from today starting 9:00am sharp. Do not be late, or you'll be facing the consequences." *click*]

As the announcement was going on, I slowly drifted off and stared into space, remembering the events that had occurred during my first day of training. I continued drifting off after the announcements stopped. a brief silence followed the announcements.

I sighed deeply to myself, not realizing that I was the only person who was moving, who was even breathing. Everyone else held their breaths in suspense due to the announcement.

*Man...I wish I won't have to fight any time soon...I've gotten better at my control but who knows what'll happen if I try to fight seriously...*

After the brief silence, the entire class burst into an uproar. I was shaken out of my reverie and quickly looked around me at what was happening. Akemi had turned around and was chatting excitedly with Kyle, who reacted similarly. It appeared to me that Opinions were divided throughout the class, because a few members looked far less energetic and some just seemed clueless like me.

*Huh...what's going on...*

"Ki...ka...ki...Kazu...KAZUKI!"

"H-huh?"

I turned around to see Akemi and Kyle both looking at me excitedly.

"W-what's going on?"

"Seriously Kazuki? You weren't listening again?"

"You should really pay attention..."

"Oh shush you guys...just tell me what's going on..."

"We're having a class-separate squad battle!"

I scratched my head and laughed as I nodded, while processing what the just said.

"Haha, I see...I see..."

*I see...I see...a battle huh. So that's what's going o-*

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

I stood up suddenly and yelled as their words finally sunk in. The class went silent. I looked completely shocked and flustered.

"J-jeez Kazuki...you don't have to be so loud..."

"W-we're having a battle...?"

"Sure are."

"A-and I'll have to f-fight?"

"Sure will."

My knees went weak as I sank back into my chair. While still maintaining my shocked expression, I thought to myself,

*N-no way...what am I going to do...?*

I stood in the kitchen as slowly tended to each item I was cooking for dinner. The pot of soup boiled and a nice aroma floated around the kitchen and living room. Meat sizzled in the pan as a variety of vegetables were steaming quietly in other pan. Rice was already prepared and was sitting in the rice stove which displayed [Warm] currently. Akemi and Kyle were both sitting on the living room floor playing a video game while Shizuka took a nap on the sofa. Rin stayed in her room as always, supposedly cooking up even more training plans for me. After a few more minutes, I yelled,

"OKAY GUYS, DINNER'S READY!"

over the loud vacuum. I then proceeded in turning the vacuum off, and then bringing each plate of food onto the table, putting the most popular dish, the meat, in the centre. Then moment the words left my mouth, Shizuka seemed to have teleported from the sofa to her chair at the dining table. Akemi and Kyle then proceeded to run over and Rin finally appeared at the doorway.

"YAY! Our first home cooked meal, by Chef Kazuki-kuun~. I'm looking forward to this! See? Even Rin-San came downstairs to eat!"

"Shut it Shizuka. Like anybody could resist the smell of that meat. Kazuki-kun, good job. It smells great."

"Oh, thank you haha."

I scratched my head embarrassedly and laughed.

"Yosh! How about let's stop talking and let's get eating! I'm still a growing boy! And I need lots of meat! C'mon, let's go let's go!"

"Haha, alright Kyle, lets get started then shall we?"

We quickly seated ourselves at the table, with Rin at the head and Shizuka to her side. Kyle and Akemi sat across from Shizuka, and I sat at the other head of the table, beside Akemi.

"""""Itadakimase!"""""

We all said enthusiastically, and then dug into the food.

"MHHM! This is really good!"

"Man, damnit Shizuka. I can't believe you made me eat convenience bentos for 8 years when there was stuff like this out there. You should've come here earlier Kazuki."

"Sorry Rin-San, but remember, I had to suffer with you."

"Shut up and eat Shizuka, stop distracting me."

"Sor-"

"KYLE! Stop taking just meat! Take some vegetables too! You too Kazuki-kun!"

"Huh? Oh, fine. Alrig-"

"Hush Akemi, I'm a growing boy and I need protein! I need food! Meat! Mea- om nom nom."

"Shut up Kyle, you're tall enough!"

"Yeah Kyle! Leave some meat for Kazuki! Kazuki, you need to eat vegetables too! Oi! Kyle, stop getting more meat!"

SMACK. Akemi proceeded in slapping Kyle's wrist.

"Oww! Why would you do that Akemi?"

"I'LL TELL YOU WHY YOU GLUTTONOUS PIG, STOP TAKING MY MEAT DAG NUBBIT."

"S-sorry Rin-Senpai..."

"Hmph."

"Haha, its alright, it's alright. Lets get along with each other now shall me?"

We continued to scarf down the food. Within minutes, the food was finished, and drinks were served. Tea for Shizuka, a beer for Rin, orange juice for Akemi, and iced tea for Kyle and I. As I handed out the drinks, Shizuka said,

"I think today is a special day, and Kazuki-kun here deserves a toast!"

"Un!" "Yep!" "Mhm..." Akemi, Kyle, and Rin said respectively.

"Alright then, to Kazuki and Rin and our very first homemade dinner in 8 years! Kanpai!"

""""Kanpai!""""

After the toast, we brought our drinks to the living room and relaxed there while sipping out drinks. Kyle and Akemi sat facing the television, playing their video games again, while I sat somewhat in between, but slightly behind, then, facing Rin and Shizuka, who seated themselves on the sofa facing the television as well. As the beeps and bops of the video game rang from behind me, Rin suddenly said,

"So I heard on the announcements today, you there've got an exam coming up eh? A...battle right? Tomorrow?"

Akemi and Kyle both nodded without turning over, and continued playing their game. I froze mid-sip, and then slowly raised my head to face Rin, who was staring right at me.

"Seems like you've been worrying like me Kazuki–kun."

"Mhhm." I said while gently nodding my head.

"You remember what I told you during our training right? To avoid fights? Since you're not exactly stable in using magic yet right? Any emotional bump could be the one way ticket for you straight to hell huh."

I nodded again.

"Now, since this counts for marks and your teammates are counting on you, I won't force you to resign. That choice is up to you to make. But I can only advise that you resign whenever you feel like something's wrong. You understand? You two as well, playing the games! Pay attention, this is important and it concerns Kazuki's life."

Akemi quickly paused the game and turned around with Kyle.

"Right. If you see any Beast magic coming out of Kazuki or anything strange happening to him, you resign immediately and call for help. Got it?"

"Okay." "Gottit." Akemi and Kyle said respectively.

"Good. That's all. You can continue."

Akemi and Kyle turned around again to resume playing, but Akemi snuck a peek at me just before she returned to her gaming. I didn't notice. I continued to look at Rin.

"Alright, back to you Kazuki-kun. A few things I want to tell you before your battle tomorrow."

"A-alright Rin-Senpai."

"So, everything I said to you in training applies okay? That means avoid what happened on the first day of training. Also, have some room in your mind for backing up. That way, in the case that things get wild, you'll have at least some room to back up into so you won't lose your consciousness as easily. Hmm...what else...just remember the things I said. Don't go too deep into using your Beast magic, just go at a ratio of perhaps 10% tops, any higher and no guarantees that you won't go wild, remember the techniques I taught you, and don't underestimate your enemy. I'm sure they've all gotten training themselves. I guess that's about it."

"Mhhm." I nodded quickly.

*Yeah, nothing new here. I've already learnt all this so now I just have to apply it.*

"Oh yeah, Kazuki, which squad are you up against first?"

"Hmm? Oh, I don't know...they say they'll send us a tournament battle sheet, let me check."

I quickly called out a screen and tapped around a few times, opening new screens and scrolling every now and then. Finally, I opened up the window I wanted.

"Here we go...so...wait. What's our squad name again?"

"..."

"What's that? I couldn't hear you."

"I-I-I-it's ..."

"Wha-"

"IT'S CHOCOFOUNTAIN OKAY? SHIZUKA MADE IT BECAUSE I LOST AT JANKEN. DAMN IT, STOP ASKING."

"O-oh...ChocoFountain huh...sounds like Shizuka...let me see here...ChocoFountain..."

I dragged my finger down the screen looking for the name until I found it.

"A ha! Found it! And we're up against...uhh...squadron Raging Dragon Quaking Earth...?"

"Che."

I turned around to see Rin have a disgusted expression. She looked out the window and said,

"Those guys huh...so you're up against the current student council squadron."

"The student council squadron? Isn't that the squad composed of the highest ranking members of this school? The strongest ones?"

"Sure is Kazuki-kun. Do you know who they recruited for that squadron on your grade Kazuki?"

"Hmm...I'm not sur-"

Kyle suddenly interjected something and I turned around to realize that he had given up on playing after losing to Akemi 7 times in a row.

"Well I know for certain Haruo Daiki is in the student council squad. I heard him bragging about it when I stayed late after school that day."

"You stay late after school everyday."

"For a good reason too! Now we know at least one person we're up against!"

"I'm sure you stay after school for another reason..."

"I-I-I have no idea what you're talking about why don't you close your mouth you're talking too much anyways."

Kyle growled in one single breath.

"Hmm...you two, stop arguing. So the Daiki kid huh...guess its only natural for them to scout the winner of the Battle Royale...you've got some pretty bad luck to be matched up like this huh. Anyways, remember what I told you guys. Resign if things get out of hand okay? Is that understood?"

""Yes!""

"Hmm. Akemi? Did you hear what I just said?"

"About resigning and how we're up against student council and Daiki-kun? Yep."

"Yosh. Good. So anyways, good luck tomorrow, and I think you should go to sleep now. Always get a good nights rest before battle right?"

"""Yes Rin-Senpai! Good night Shizuka-Senpai!"""

I left the living room after Shizuka bid us leave by waving. In the hallway, I asked the other two,

"Why won't they list the fighters names under the squadron name?"

Before Kyle could answer, Akemi pushed away Kyle's face and answered,

"Well see the principal believes that the battle starts the moment it is announced, so he believes that things should be just like a real battle. You have to scout out your enemies' identities and their strengths and magics are after being given just their squad name."

"Hmm...I guess it makes sense. I wonder if the other team will try to spy on us or try to scout us out."

This time, Kyle answered,

"No way. Out of all squads, the student council squad is known for not caring about who they're up against. They believe in their own strength so much that they believe they can beat anyone up against them no matter who they are or what magic they have. And it's true, they haven't lost a battle since they've been elected."

"Woah there Kyle...how do you know all this...?"

"I've talked to people after school, getting to know the social protocols and habits of people to watch out for. See? Not completely flirting eh?"

"Hmm...pretty good Kyle."

"So have your opinions of me changed? Yeah? Kazuki? Akemi?"

""Nope.""

"Hguyaaaaaaa..."

Kyle collapsed onto all fours and a dark cloud came over him.

"W-w-why...?"

"In my mind, you're still a pervert. No, you're THE ultimate pervert." I growled, remembering the things he did to Akemi.

"Yep. It's as Kazuki-kun says, you really need to learn one or two things about gentlemanliness from Kazuki-kun."

Kyle looked skeptically at us as I looked at Akemi. It could've been just me, but in the dark hallway, I thought I saw a slight blush on Akemi's face. After a brief pause, Akemi quickly bid herself leave and ran up the stairs. Kyle and I exchanged evening pleasantries one last time before each going into our rooms to sleep.

I went into my room and got into bed. I rolled around thinking

*A battle huh...I hope nothing bad happens...*

****Before drifting into my sleep.


	8. The Class-Separate Squad Battle

["...ohh! The fierce battle rages on! Who shall win? This is exciting indeed!..."]

A dim screen flickered in our dimly lit Battle Room. This is the 8th battle of the day, and seeing as how one of the teams only has 1 remaining team member left, probably will not last much longer. Kyle laid in his capsule, tapping away quietly at his screen, checking out battle stats. Akemi sat beside me as we watched the TV sized screen flicker on the wall. Moments later, the 8th battle ended. Suddenly, lights in our Battle Room came to life and brightly lit our room. The TV screen which had displayed the previous battle just a moment ago, displayed,

["Participants of 9th Battle: ChocoFountain & Raging Dragon Quaking Earth. Members please head to designated Battle Rooms and prepare to fight. 9th Battle will begin in 15 minutes."]

"""..."""

"*cough* Alr-"

"Alright! Let's go in there and kick ass!"

"Ehe~ Took the words right out of my mouth Kyle-kun~ Let's go Kazuki-kun!"

"...un."

"Hm? Is there something wrong Kazuki?"

"Heeeh? I bet you're just nervous~ What, scared you're going to lose again? Mhhhm?"

"...nah."

I smiled artificially at them before quickly jumping into my capsule and closing the lid. Kyle and Akemi turned to look at each other and shrugged before getting into their respective capsules as well.

The same screen appeared as it did in the Battle Royale. After a few loading screens, it finally connected to the VT world. I felt the similar, nauseating feeling of getting sucked out of my body before landing into the VT world. However, this time, I landed upright on both feet, unlike how I did in the Battle Royale. I turned around to see that Akemi and Kyle had both landed as well, similarly on both feet. Kyle punched his fists together while Akemi tilted her head and smiled.

"Mhm, yosh~! I'm feeling pumped! Kazuki, let's wreck'em!"

"Ah...haha...yeah..."

"Huh? Are you not feeling well? Still?"

I looked away as a shadow crossed my face. Akemi looked at me worriedly and asked quietly,

"...are you worried about what will happen in the Battle Royale again?"

I flipped my head up, eyes wide, as a cold sweat swept over my body. Memories of watching Kyle and Akemi get killed in front of me made me shudder uncontrollably. I clenched my fist as I gritted my teeth.

"I-"

I was cut off as Akemi and Kyle both placed their hands on my shoulders.

"Kazuki man...I'm hurt. To think that you'd worry about me like this...I'm not as weak as you think I am. I know you're a helluva lot stronger but I trained hard too."

Kyle then proceeded to fake some crying.

"Mhhm! That's right Kazuki! And we've got a few extra moves up our sleeves too! Here's a teaser: Healing magic can also be used to fight~"

"Huh...?"

Having my attention be moved away from the memories of the Battle Royale, I stared at Akemi with a confused expression.

"Healing magic...can be used to fight!?"

Just then, 3 people materialized on the other end of the virtual arena. They were the Raging Dragon Quaking Earth, led by Haruo Daiki, our opponent. They casually walked to the centre of the arena, waiting for us to do so as well. While Haruo's teammates were sneering and shooting dirty glances at Kyle, Akemi, and I, Haruo simply focused his vision on me. Likewise, I only paid attention to Haruo. After all, in the end, I will most likely be the one facing Haruo. To my two sides, Kyle and Akemi simply stared emotionlessly at Haruo's leering team members. Suspense filled the air as I clenched my clammy hands. Fear lurked at the back of my mind, bugging me, telling me that everything will go wrong.

*You'll lose everything...like you've always had...you'll lose Akemi and Kyle...you'll lose to Haruo...you'll lose control...you'll lose to yourself...you'll have nothing left...*

["Ahem...*cough*...ahem. Why hello everyone! And welcome to the 9th Battle! The participants are ChocoFountain and the infamous Raging Dragon Quaking Earth! My oh my is this a battle to be seen! Here's a clip of our participants' first battle: *Plays clip* Yes, as you can see, the two finalists from the Battle Royale are back again to face off in this exciting battle! Who shall come out on top? We'll have to wait and see! Please, sit tight and enjoy the show! The Battle Ceremony shall now start! Participants may begin battle at the sound of the beep!]

In the middle of the virtual arena, dead centre between the two teams, appeared a floating circle facing the two teams. The large number [60] appeared in a the centre of it, and began decreasing as each second passed. [59] [58] [57] ... Around the clock, a ring of light also began appear. As each second passed, the ring of light would extend around to clock in a clockwise manner.

[30] [29] [28]

*Badum...badum...badum...that's right...in 30 seconds, Akemi and Kyle will be gone, and you'll be reduced to nothing! You're nothing but a monster, a beast! You can't control anything, everything will go wrong in the end! And it'll all be your fault! Your. Fault. Your. Fault. Four. Yault. Faur. Yoult. Quetks. Wysit. Aitlng. Aughoiug. ouOUhkguhaaoUHGKU-*

"KAZUKI! SNAP OUT OF IT!"

[1] [0] ["BEEEEEEEEEEP"]

"Huh?"

I turned around to look at Kyle, who had just yelled at me. It was as if Kyle got hit by a train. The moment I looked over, his body was blown past me by a black looking blur. My eyes could barely follow as I saw that Kyle had just been tackled by his opponent.

*Huh...what...no way...this can't be happening...Kyle is already-*

Sensing a sudden, strong bloodlust from behind me, I whipped my head around and instinctively took a half step back. I saw Haruo glaring at me, and then he said,

"That's right Kazuki-kun..."

His voice absolutely dripping with sarcasm by the time he said "-kun".

"...it would be wise not to take your eyes off me while we are in battle."

I clenched my teeth and I glared back. I have no time to worry about Kyle. My opponent in front of me is more than enough for me to deal with alone.

*Che...it's not like I'm lacking in bloodlust either...*

Meanwhile, to my left side, Akemi and her opponent had whipped up a fairly hardcore melee battle.

I continued to glare at Haruo, who simply glared back at me. We continued to stand still, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Even the simplest break in focus would cause an opening enough for either of us to deal a decisive blow. We both knew that. Haruo needed something in order to summon his Beast in, and I'll be waiting for the moment he reaches for whatever that thing is. Meanwhile, he'll be waiting for the moment I break out my Beast magic, because like a car, my Beast magic will need time to become stable. Any break in concentration when I'm reaching for my Beast magic will cause me to lose control, resulting in what happened in the Battle Royale. A droplet of sweat rolled down my cheek as Haruo's finger twitched. We continued to glare at each other through the heat.

Far behind me, Kyle was gritting his teeth as he tried his best to halt his opponent's tackle.

"ooooooOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Finally being able to get his body into position, he heaved at his opponent's body. Being a big person he was, he naturally possessed an advantage over his opponent. With all his strength, Kyle managed to grab and flip his opponent away from his body. The opponent's body flew straight up as Kyle quickly moved his hand to take the offensive.

"Che...damn. I was hoping I could take you down just like that."

"Heh, it's going to take more than just a mere tackle to take me out."

Kyle then proceeded in shooting a weak looking ball of energy from his hand towards his opponent. With ease, his opponent knocked away the ball while yelling,

"If a mere tackle won't take you down, then that shitty ball ain't doin' anything to me either you pun...k?"

After he knocked the ball away, it was as if Kyle had disappeared from the ground. Suddenly, a voice said from above/behind him.

"Of course, well, any smart person would've realized that that was just a decoy...you talk too much when you fight. You'll bite your tongue you know."

As his opponent turned around to face Kyle, his eyes opened wide as he saw a giant looking ball glowing intensely, full of compacted energy.

"ah...ah...ah..."

"Nighty-night~"

Without a second thought, Kyle hurled the giant ball and smashed it into his opponent, driving his opponent into the ground. The ball continued to spin and grind at the ground, whipping up a dust storm that engulfed both Kyle and his opponent. When the dust cleared, the ball was gone and Kyle was standing at the edge of a large crater. Embedded into the ground at the centre of the crater, lay his opponent. Who wasn't moving. Or so we thought. Just as Kyle turned around, his enemy jumped up and leapt towards him, preparing to attack Kyle. However, without turning around, Kyle simply smiled and flicked his finger upwards. Several small energy balls burst from underneath the ground and hammered onto his opponent, effectively stopping his opponent.

"Hmph." Kyle said as he proceeded to walk back to where I was.

As Kyle's intense battle happened, Akemi was also whipping up a storm with her enemy. They constantly avoided each other's attacks by a hairs-breadth. They moved with inhuman speed, and it was as if their limbs had disappeared from moving so fast. Suddenly, Akemi shouted,

"HAA!"

As she shoved her enemy back. She then proceeded to kick her leg straight up, and then brought it crashing down on her opponent, burying her opponent into the ground. Literally. Large cracks appeared on the virtual arena floor as the entire landscape shook. Unfazed, Akemi proceeded to reach into the ground and drag up her opponent's body. She tossed it up, got into position, and as the body fell, punched it with 100%. Her opponent shot across the virtual arena like a bullet, tearing down trees and blasting through rocks, eventually coming to a stop in a mound of dirt an impressive distance away. While smiling like a demonic angel, she said to me,

"Well, I'll be going then, Kazuki-kun~"

As she skipped off to her opponent.

*Ugh...terrifying...focus, focus, focus...*

Within moments, Akemi had arrived at her opponent. However, despite being beaten around like a rag doll just a moment ago, her opponent has managed to recover enough to stand up and take a position where she was ready to attack.

"Ugh...damn...you beat me like a sandbag there...my entire body hurts...damn."

"Fufufu..."

"Che. You bitch. Time to end this. BURST! IRON MAIDEN!"

A bright light surrounded Akemi's enemy as her entire body turned into a glossy looking silver. Her entire body had turned to iron.

"Heh. That's right, my entire body is made of iron now. And not just the outside, everything inside too. You might not want to punch me anymore, cuz it's gonna hurt."

"Mhhm...we'll see about that. HEALING BURST! REINFORCEMENT!"

"Huh? What th-"

Just as Akemi yelled that, a bright, fuzzy light appeared around her body, eventually fading to nothing. However, Akemi still looked the same.

"Fufufu...you may think that I look the same, but I have reinforced my body enough to tear through even iron. Although I still have much to learn, it's enough to deal with you right now. Fufufu..."

"Che! Don't get so cocky you bitch!"

"That's quite a filthy mouth you have there mhm?"

They both threw everything they had at each other as their fists met dead centre between each other.

"Guh..."

"..."

The air vibrated with energy as their punches continued to press against each other.

"Guuuuuh...FUUUUUCKKKKK!"

Akemi's enemy screamed in frustration and pain as Akemi's magic won out, tearing off her opponent's arm as well as half of her torso. Silver-like liquid flowed all around and splattered everywhere. In an instant, the remains shattered with a clear sounding *ping* as Akemi's opponent was removed from battle. Just as Akemi was about to turn around to head back towards me, Kyle's body flew into Akemi and the two of them smashed into the ground.

[Moments ago]

"Hmph." Kyle said after he hammered down his opponent the second time. As he began to walk back towards me, he realized that something was wrong. That his opponent gave up too easily.

"He...hehe...hehehe...that's right...Kyle-kun...my magic..."

Kyle whipped around and stared at his opponent in shock.

"What...the..."

"He...he...my magic is called Retribution...in other words...the more damage I receive, the stronger I will get. So now that you've beaten my quite a bit, it's my turn to return the favor. With interest, of course. BURST! RETRIBUTION! 100% OUTPUT!"

A fierce purple beam ripped out from Kyle's opponent's fist and smashed into Kyle, sending him flying towards the other side of the arena, where Akemi was. Just as Akemi finished off her opponent, Kyle smashed into Akemi and the two of them were blown back by the purple beam. After being blown back quite a distance, the beam finally dissipated, leaving a groaning Akemi and an unconscious Kyle at the other end of the arena.

As Akemi rubbed the back of her head and slowly sat up, she opened her eyes and saw that the unconscious Kyle had accidentally face-planted himself into Akemi's chest. The entire arena fell silent and a cold gust of wind blew through the virtual arena. Perhaps it was just for the sake of comedy, but a random hayball rolled across the ground as the silence continued.

For a single moment, time itself stopped. Haruo and I broke eye contact as we both stared at Kyle lying on top of a baffled looking Akemi. Kyle's opponent also halted his approach towards Kyle after seeing what had happened.

As all of this was happening, Kyle slowly regained consciousness and pushed his body up. Where did he place his hands? Coincidentally, on Akemi's chest as well.

"Ah...ouch...that hurt...huh? My hand...something soft..."

Kyle then proceeded to shamelessly grope Akemi. I choked out a little bit of blood as veins begin to bulge on my forehead. After doing so for a good half a minute, he finally looks down and sees what he's doing. Around me, Haruo and his remaining teammate continued to stare at the scene. Shockingly, even seeing what he is doing, he continued to stay on top of Akemi for a good few seconds. Finally, Akemi's voice broke the silence.

"H-h-h-h-how...long...do you plan...on staying...on top of me..."

An intense, murderous aura started seeping out of Akemi. Kyle's expression turned pale as he began to stutter excuses,

"W-wait, Akemi, this is a m-m-misunderstanding! Y-yeah! An a-a-accident! Wait, stop, we can talk this out, wait, WAAAAI- &%&^*%#*&^($*&)$%^*%#&^%#*"

["Sorry viewers, but this portion must be censored for the sake of your own personal health. Please wait patiently."]

Ding~!

["And we resume our 9th battle. Thank you for waiting patiently!"]

Akemi stood in a puddle of blood and gore where Kyle's body was originally. She glared around murderously and growled,

"Any y'all got a problem wid dis?"

Haruo, his teammate, and I all shook our heads vigorously as she glared at us.

"Hmph. Y'all on your own. I'm gotta go beat the punk-ass shit outta zat dirty hentai worm."

After saying that, she proceeded to resign herself from battle. Her body flashed and disappeared in an instant. With a shaky voice, Haruo then proceeded to ask,

"What...was that?"

"I...have no idea...I've never seen Akemi like that...before..."

"A formidable enemy."

"Agreed."

Right after I said that, I suddenly felt a presence right behind me. I leapt away just in time to dodge Haruo's teammate's attack. I landed a few meters away from them as they stood together in front of me.

"Che. So it's a two on one eh?"

"Nope. I want it to be fair this time."

Just as he said that, a monstrous looking Beast erupted from behind Haruo and devoured his teammate mercilessly.

"Ugh...how could you..." I felt a bitter taste in my mouth.

"He was merely a tool. In fact, he would've just been an obstruction. He would only get in the way of our fight, since we are, after all, several levels stronger than he is."

"Che...you're as disgusting as ever."

"Be quiet, and now, BRING OUT OUR MAGIC! LET US CONTINUE OUR FIGHT! ATTACK MY BEAST!"

As the Beast leapt and struck out at me, I dodged and initiated my Accel magic. Immediately, I engaged in a fierce melee fight with the Beast. Although my strikes were much faster than the Beast's, they were far too light to deal any significant damage to the Beast. Suddenly, the ground underneath us cracked as a second Beast struck upwards towards me. Right at that same moment, the first Beast that I was fighting also struck out at me.

*Che...damn it! I can't dodge both of them in midair...ahhhhhh fuuuuck this is going to HUUURRTTTTTT*

I proceeded to block the blow coming from underneath me as the blow coming from the side hit me and sent me flying. I heard a dull sounding crunch as several of my bones in my side shattered like glass. I flew a fair distance away as I groaned.

*Huh...ouch...why are there two Beasts...how...*

Suddenly, Haruo's voice broke my thoughts as he yelled,

"That's right Kazuki! You may have been stronger during the Battle Royale, but I'm stronger now! I've trained day in and day out for this fight! Behold, I am able to summon and control two Beasts now! You stand no chance, Kazuki!"

*Damn...that guy is really a genius...he's really strong...but I can't give up...*

I pushed myself up and managed to get into a kneeling position. I then focused my mind and gathered all my feelings of hatred, anger, envy, fear, etc. Slowly, a black aura began to surround me and the black characters began to crawl out of my left eye and around my right arm.

*10%...15%...17%...damn. I'm already reaching my limit...I didn't calculate that Haruo would be able to control two Beasts...damn...I need to get higher.*

The black aura around me began to intensify as I began to push my limits.

*20%...25%...25.4%...*

The virtual sky turned dark as heavy winds began to tear through the landscape. I continued to kneel as the black aura whipped around me. By this time, my entire right arm had become the charred, black claw it was during my training sessions with Rin-senpai. The entire left side of my face had also become ensconced in black. However, I continued to increase my Beast ratio.

*27%...27.6%...28%...29%...30%!*

"OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKKKKKKK"

I screamed as pain tore through my back. A single, demonic black wing ripped out from my right shoulder blade and extended outwards. All my wounds healed instantly as I grabbed my right shoulder with my left hand in pain. I slowly forced my body until I stood up and I faced them with my differently coloured eyes. My vision blurred from the pain as I staggered slightly. My body swayed from side to side. Haruo looked at me and whispered under his breath,

"Heh...that's right. That's how my rival should be like..."

He then puffed out his chest, took a deep breath, and roared,

"LET'S END THIS KAZUKI! GO MY BEASTS, ATTACK!"

The two Beasts leapt at me arms outstretched, ready to tear my body apart. Despite how fast they approached me, from my perspective, they were approaching me at a walking pace. It was as if everything has slowed down several times. As they approached me, I thought,

*Huh...that's weird...why are they so...slow?*

I suddenly realized how everything felt completely surreal. It was as if all my senses had been enhanced. I could see clearer with more vivid colours, I could hear the faintest noises from all around me, the intense smell of smoke and dust clogged up my lungs and I felt myself coughing uncontrollably as tears came out of my eyes.

*Wha- what's happening? I need to retaliate, the Beasts are coming, I need to fight, quickly, QUICKLY!*

As I forcefully stopped my coughing and wiped my tears away, I realized that the Beasts were still a considerable distance away. Feeling shocked, I thought to myself,

*Huh...they're still...so far away?*

Brushing the thought aside, I decided to go to them instead of waiting for them to get to me. I tore through space and stopped when I was in between the two of them. As I stopped, I looked at the two Beasts beside me. They slowly turned their heads and reached their arms out for me.

*Why are they so slow?*

Without thinking, I felt my body move to attack the Beast I was facing. Suddenly, a black blur came from behind me and in an instant, diced up the first Beast. Just as the crooked spikes erupted from the diced up pieces and shot towards me, I felt something cover my body and vision. Something black.

*What is this...? It's almost as if...it's a...wing?*

The realization hit me like a train.

*...was raising my ratio to 30% too much for my body? I have wings now? What's happening? No, calm down. This makes sense now. That's why everything feels so slow. No, everything is normal. I'm just too fast. Yes. It makes sense now. So...I have wings now huh.*

Curious more than anything else, I reached behind my back and felt the spot where the wing sprouted from my back.

*Ehh...so I only have 1 wing now huh...*

All of a sudden, I felt a sharp pain in my back as I felt a shockwave slowly pass through my body.

*Huh? What...oh yeah. There was another Bea- Fuck.*

As if everything snapped back to real time, I felt my body flip several times as the other Beast punched me in my back. I flew through the air and managed to regain my balance in midair with the help of my wing. Without thinking twice, I whipped forwards at the Beast while gathering a black ball of magic in my hands. Rings of black characters spun around the black ball forming in my right hand. As I arrived at the Beast, I thrusted my hand with the charged up black ball into the gut of the Beast, sending the Beast flying backwards with a pitch black beam emitted from the ball. The Beast smashed through rocks, trees, and carved through small hills, slowly and eventually disintegrating into nothing. However, the beam continued forwards and smashed into a faraway mountain. An earthquake rippled the ground and as the dust cleared from far away, a perfectly round hole could be seen in the mountain.

After I stopped admiring the perfect looking circle I made in the mountain, I turned to see Haruo already reaching for another doll (presumably how he summoned the Beasts; at least he's not using his teammates anymore...) to summon his next set of Beasts.

Feeling irritating and rapidly losing interest in the fight, I flew forwards at Haruo as he continued to chant his summoning spell. Just as I arrived and knocked the doll out of his hands, I felt him unintentionally place his hand on my forearm as he completed his spell.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

My heartbeat started to race. I felt my entire body heat up uncontrollably and unbearably. An intense pain tore my head apart as I fell to my knees while holding my head. The wing on my back expanded in size several times, and began to distort into a gruesome looking thing. My right arm started shaking as I felt the black texture on the left side of my face slowly creep over and cover the rest of my face. I howled in pain as the black texture rapidly extended from where the wing met my back to all around my body. When my entire body became ensconced in a layer of black material, the black, smoke-like aura around me condensed and formed a sphere around me, completely hiding me from view.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

*"I have found you, Pandora's Box."...huh? Who's voice was that? Who are you? What's happening? Why are you in my head? What?*

On the outside of my sphere, Haruo had backed up quickly and was leaning against a tree. An inexplicable expression covered his face as he had already realized what he has done. However, unlike how he reacted during the Battle Royale, where he was rendered to an almost-crying adolescence, he simply leaned against the tree and panted heavily. His dolls lay strewn on the ground around me. His fairly slender frame shuddered as he stared silently at the black ball that had engulfed me. Everything went silent on both sides. The wind whistled through the wreckage in the VT world as everybody in the real world watched, holding their breath. The VT world maintenance machines beeped and booped quietly in the background as even the teachers and staff stopped working to watch the battle. It was as if time itself had stopped.

Suddenly, the black, opaque ball that had ensconced me erupted apart into a giant, black, three-dimensional kaleidoscope, with my body suspended in mid-air. A second wing had appeared on my back as a long, wicked looking tail protruded from my lower back. My entire body had become ensconced in a charred, black texture. The kaleidoscope began to spin. Then it stopped. And then it spun in another direction. And stopped. And this process continued as the pace slowly picked up. As the kaleidoscope spun faster and faster, it also became smaller and smaller until it finally spun out of control and broke apart, flinging bits of black matter in all directions. As the black matter hit an object, it instantly vapourized into a black puff of smoke and disappeared. Haruo held his breath as the black smoke surrounded and slowly cleared away from around him. As the remaining bits of black smoke dispersed, Haruo cracked open his eyes to look for me. When his eyes focused, they widened as he involuntarily gasped to himself. What had replaced me was not a typical looking Beast, but something entirely different. Something considered to be a level higher than a Beast. Only having appeared once before in history, what stood before Haruo was what was known as a Tyrant. The Tyrant slowly lifted it's body from a half-kneeling position to a neutral, standing position. It's entire body was covered in a smooth looking black, and unlike normal humans, it stood a baffling 3 meters tall. On it's back, 4 wicked looking wings stayed motionless as a long, spiked tail protruded from it's back. large claws replaced it's hands and feet. What was also very surprising was the fact that it possessed no face. It was as if it was wearing a mask with no nose, eyes, mouth, or ears. It was simply just a shape of a head.

The Tyrant stood there, motionless. It slowly turned it's head around and observed where it was. Finally, it laid it's eyes on Haruo, and just simply stared at Haruo. Haruo sweat heavily as he stared back at the Tyrant. He couldn't move. His legs were frozen and his body couldn't move. On the outside, everybody stared quietly. Teachers, staff, and students had all heard about the dreaded Tyrant before, and now, one stood right before them on the screen. For a single moment in time, everything went quiet as everyone stared in fearful awe at the single, black, humanoid being on their screens before them.

The tyrant continued to face Haruo. Finally, it slowly lifted it's right hand and pointed a single finger at Haruo.

*Huh? Who are you? What do you mean, 'Pandora's Box'? Am I still unconscious? Whoa, what's that?*

Something cracked in the darkness that surrounded me. I felt my body get sucked towards it. A bright light filled my vision and I instinctively covered my face to block it out. As I slowly opened my eyes, I could see again. The outside. But it was weird. My body didn't follow my orders, I could only simply look out my eyes.

*That's weird, my body is moving on it's own...It's as if I can only watch...*

I saw my vision turn around and I observed the torn and worn down landscape. Finally, my body stopped moving it's head and I realized that it was looking at Haruo. A hand appeared on the right side of my vision.

*Oh. That's my hand...why is it so black...so smooth...? What's going on?*

The hand pointed itself at Haruo. A single finger. I felt a tingling sensation, as if a wave of goosebumps just rippled through my body.

*W-what was that...?*

Right then, time started again. A single, centimeter wide beam shot from my finger, through Haruo's forehead, continued through everything until it disappeared into the distant mountains. Haruo's body instantly shattered into pieces. A few seconds passed. Almost instantly in the far distance, a giant cracked appeared out of nowhere, as if in the middle of the sky, and bits of the dimension began to cripple and fall apart. The mountains have completely been flattened as the landscape in front of my went from torn up trees and debris to absolutely nothing left but a flat, barren landscape. Another few seconds passed and a huge shockwave tore through the entire VT world. It was as if the entire, 100+ quortzbyte system lagged up. Simultaneously, on the other side, all the machines in the maintenance room began to scream. Sirens erupted as smoke began to puff out of various machines. The live-feed video for the battle was cut off as teachers and staff in the maintenance/control room began to scramble to deal with the situation. The dimension began to fall apart. The floor of the VT world tilted as the sky became a mixture of day and night. Random trees began to generate all around me only to disappear in the next second. Different structures appeared and disappeared as well. Suddenly, through all the commotion, a voice sounded.

*Huh? Is that...my voice? Why does it sound layered? What am I saying?*

"...titum. Awaken, my Sins."

*Huh? What-titum? And what did I/he mean by 'Awaken, my Sins...?' what's going o-OOHHHH*

I felt a lurching motion as my body was torn away from the Tyrant's body. I landed on the glitching floor and looked up at the Tyrant. It simply looked down at me before turning around and leaving. A black smoke surrounded the Tyrant as it slowly walked away. Just before the Tyrant disappeared, it turned around to me and said,

"I have found you...my son."

It's body vanished in a puff of smoke as I felt the floor underneath me give way as I fell into the VT limbo space.

On the other side, staff and teachers managed to do a forceful shutdown and disconnect from the shattering VT world before all the machines were destroyed. (The basically means the only machine left in contact with the shattered VT world was my capsule. Nobody could interfere and attempt to help me out of the VT limbo space.) A small screen appeared on my capsule and it displayed,

["Estimated Disconnect Time: Unknown."]

["Disconnection Progress: 0%"]

Akemi and Kyle stared at it with worried expressions.

Through all the commotion, the principal stared at the screen and furrowed his brow.

****"Hmm...Vetitum...Avaritia...Eden...This is troublesome."


	9. Lost in Utopia

Quiet murmurs overlapped with the occasional beeps and boops of the machinery. Several teachers and staff members hurried around in the VT maintenance room, trying to fix whatever machinery was damaged during the latest VT battle between ChocoFountain and Raging Dragon Quaking Earth. Inter-squad battles were temporarily halted because the system's mainframe was damaged and it would be risky to continue battles. A heavy atmosphere enveloped the room.

Suddenly, the door banged open and two kids ran in. They were Akemi and Kyle. Closely following behind them was Haruo and his two teammates. The entire room's attention turned to the children standing in the doorway. Akemi asked,

"What's happening? Isn't the battle over? Why is Kazuki still in his capsule?"

Kyle followed up quickly with,

"What does it mean ["Estimated Disconnect Time: Unknown."], and ["Disconnection Progress: 0%"]? Why were the displayed on the capsule?"

Ms. Mika looked around at the staff and other teachers, nervously fidgeting in their spot, not knowing whether or not they should try to answer or go back to work. Ms. Mika sighed and gestured for them to get back to work. She walked over to face Akemi, Kyle, Haruo, and his teammates.

Before Ms. Mika could speak, Haruo said,

"A number of reasons could explain why Kazuki has not been let out of his capsule yet, but from my perspective, the most plausible reason is that he didn't manage to disconnect before the VT world broke and fell apart."

With a worried expression, Kyle asked tensely,

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly, Ms. Mika spoke up and the 5 kids turned their attention to her.

"It's just as Haruo said. A number of reasons could explain why the capsule would not release Kazuki, but the statistics computer showed that there was a 69.4% chance that it was because Kazuki fell into the void, and forcefully removing his body would be dangerous, therefore the capsule sealed itself shut."

Kyle asked, "When you mean 'fell into the void'..."

Akemi followed, "...do you mean..."

Ms. Mika sighed and looked at them sternly.

"Yes, it's just as I had explained. The saying, 'fell into the void', 'lost in the void', and such can only mean one thing when we're talking about VT worlds and such. It's just as I had explained in class and during battle briefings. Kazuki's consciousness is currently lost inside the VT void."

There was a brief silence as Ms. Mika's words sunk in. Kyle then said,

"So does that mean Kazuki's consciousness is lost forever?"

Akemi quickly asked just as Kyle finished,

"Is there anyway to get out of the void?"

Ms. Mika paused and then said,

"I really shouldn't be saying this but seeing your hopeful, puppy eyes, I can't keep this information from you."

She paused again, pinched the upper part of her nose, sighed, and then continued,

"...yes. Theoretically speaking, there IS a way to get out of the void. However, nobody truly knows whether or not this method works or not because it's never been tested, and nobody is willing to try it out. The VT void is not actually a void per se. It's more of a mush of garbaged data from the VT dimensions we create. There are two major kinds of differences between our created VT dimensions versus the VT void. That difference is live data and dead data. In our VT dimensions, we constantly interact with it, therefore the data is constantly being manipulated and is, per se, 'live' data. All consciousnesses linked to VT are also 'live' bits of data. Dead data is data that is no longer in use, and is not moving. It's just a piece of data there that has a characteristics about it, but doesn't know what to do anymore. The simplest way to explain 'dead' and 'live' data is that live data would be the independent factor, and changes with it's own will, whereas dead data shapes itself around live data. You have a tree, which is a dead piece of data. When a piece of 'live' data, you let's say, go in there and blow apart the tree, the dead data reacts to the 'live' data, you, and blows apart respectively. Understand everything so far?"

Kyle, Haruo, and Akemi all look slightly blown away, but seemed to have all followed Ms. Mika's explanation quite well.

*As expected of my top students...hmph* Ms. Mika thought to herself as she smiled to herself. She quickly snapped out of her train of thought as she continued,

"Good. So, going back to the VT void. The VT void is just a gigantic mush of 'dead' data. Nothing moves in it, and everything is just still. However, when a 'live' piece of data accidentally falls into the VT void, all the gathered 'dead' data will all of a sudden start reacting to the 'live' piece of data. In our case, the 'live' piece of data is Kazuki-kun. Theoretically speaking, the VT void will react to Kazuki in a way where it will shape itself according to Kazuki's memory. What Kazuki will experience is an incredibly realistic flashback. In order to escaped the VT void, he must be able to come to the realization that he is currently in a flashback, and not the present."

Akemi, Kyle, and Haruo stood silently, fidgeting around, not knowing how they should follow up on Ms. Mika's explanation. Kyle suddenly asked,

"But how do you know that that'll work?"

"That is because under his realization, the data will start to clash against each other. His flashback will start to distort and change. This is perhaps the most dangerous stage of getting out of the VT void. Due to his data corruption, dead data will most likely start reacting violently, and there is a change that Kazuki might die in the VT void."

Kyle continued as he asked,

"...And what happens if Kazuki dies...?"

Ms. Mika turned to look at him dead in the eyes and said unwavering,

"If you die in the VT void, you will truly die. His consciousness in the VT void is essentially a piece of data. If he dies, the VT void program will deem his data no longer important, and will be deleted. Think of this process as your email for example. When you delete a mail from your inbox, it goes to your trash. However, if you delete that same mail in the trash, it will forever be lost. The inbox is like the VT dimension. The trash would be the VT void. Naturally, Kazuki would be the mail in this instance. In essence, his consciousness will be deleted and he will become an empty shell. After this 'deletion', the chances of him coming back are so close to zero that there's not even a point in considering it."

An awkward silence draped over the already heavy mood. Haruo bit his bottom lip and averted his attention to the wall, not knowing how to follow up on Ms. Mika's explanation. Kyle kept his attention on Akemi, wearing a worried expression as he did so. Akemi simply looked downwards as a shadow draped over her eyes, hiding them from view. Akemi was shaking slightly while she held her fists by her side. Ms. Mika observed the three of them with a sympathetic and slightly worried expression. Finally, to everyone's surprise, Akemi broke the silence.

"Kazuki...will be fine...I think. No, I know he will be..."

Akemi looked up with a slightly teary expression. She smiled and continued,

"Kazuki has always tried his hardest, and has always been able to pull through one way or another. There's no way...he...he..."

Akemi faded off as she flashed-back. The scene where they first met, Kazuki's slight idiocy which made him easy to talk with and fun to be around. It was Kazuki who had helped her avoid loneliness, where everybody else in the room had avoided her, Kazuki had opened up to her. Then that time when Kazuki showed her magic and had carried her, when he tried his hardest during the fights...

Kyle broke the brief silence and followed up after Akemi with,

"Yeah, she's right."

Kyle faced Ms. Mika and continued with a determined expression,

"You said that even though the chances were slim, that there still was a chance, nevertheless. If there exists a chance, Kazuki will be able to take it and get out. I just know it. Kazuki is-"

Haruo cut him off as he growled, still facing the wall,

"Kazuki isn't the kind of person who'd lose to such a petty thing. He IS my rival after all..."

Kyle turned around and growled at Haruo,

"Damn you, why'd you cut me o-"

Haruo turned to face Kyle with a snicker on his face,

"What huh? You wanna go? I'll take you on anyda-"

BAM. Kyle and Haruo both grabbed the tops of their hands and withered in pain as Ms. Mika banged the tops of both their heads with the clipboard she had in her hand.

"Now now, if you two want to fight, do it somewhere else where there isn't millions upon millions of dollars worth of equipment, right?"

""...Yes Ms. Mika.""

After hearing them talk completely in sync, they then proceeded to turned and glare at each other, growling,

""Oi! Don't copy me! Huh? Stop it! You wanna scrap? Let's go! Let's do-""

"SHUUUUUUUUT UUUUUPPPPP"

Grabbing the two of them at the scruffs of their necks was Mr. Hiretsu, who proceeded to lift both of them up, one in each hand, and throw them both outside.

"AIN'T NOBODY GONNA GET ANYTHING DONE WHILE THE TWO OF YOU SQUABBLE OVER LIL' THINGS, IF Y'ALL WANNA DISH IT OUT WITH EACH OTHER, DO IT OUTSIDE!"

After tossing Kyle and Haruo outside like twigs, he stomped back to the blinking and beeping machinery and continued to fix it. Ms. Mika smiled sympathetically at Akemi and said,

"Sorry about that Akemi, Akum- I mean Hiretsu sensei's been in a bad mood recently."

"Pfft...hahaha!"

Akemi burst out laughing and cried,

"When has Akuma sensei ever been in a good mood?"

Ms. Mika smiled and said,

"Haha, that's true. Anyways, it's time for me to get back to work and time for you to go."

(In the background, Mr. Hiretsu sneezed)

"Mhm! Bye Ms. Mika!"

As she watched Akemi rush out the door after a bickering Kyle and Haruo, her cheerful expression changed to become a worried expression. Ms. Mika turned her head to face the room I was located in and continued to frown worriedly.

"Kazuki..."

*Huh...? Where am...I? What happened?*

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked a few times to focus my vision. A clear, blue sky stretched far above me endlessly. The sun was bright and I could smell fresh grass flowers all around me. The faint chirping of birds glided through the air as a faint breeze brushed by. I slowly sat up, then proceeded to stretch and yawn. I looked around. I was lying in the middle of a grassy field dotted with various flowers of all colours. Large, solemn trees stood in the far distance. Beyond the trees, a single, solitary mountain rose above the clouds. I turned around to see a temple. It looks seemingly deserted. I slowly get up to my feet. As I stood up, I suddenly felt light headed, and almost toppled over. I managed to catch myself and stumble forwards towards the temple. I pushed open the large, heavy doors and an intense wave of nostalgia washed over me. My mind slowly cleared and I looked around. The temple seemed peaceful enough. Suddenly, I felt a presence right behind me.

*Huh? Who's there?*

I frantically thought to myself as I whipped around only to see the face of a pretty, blond girl leaned close up against my own.

"H-huh?"

"Ka. Zu. Ki~" The young blond smiled freely at me as she tilted her head slightly.

"Who...are you?"

"Kazuki! Stop pretending that you don't know me! I'm-"

Another, low and peaceful, commanding voice cried out from inside the temple,

"Kazuki! What are you doing? Slacking off again! Get back inside and help me polish off the windows!"

"H-huh?"

I turned back with a questioning look to look at the girl. She continued to smile and said,

"You heard him! This is karma for pretending you don't know me! Now get to it!"

She placed her hands on my back and pushed me towards the interior of the temple. After pushing me for a few meters, she stopped. I turned around again with a questioning look. She grinned and said,

"I'll help you too! Let's go Kazuki!"

I felt my face heat up and allowed her to push me all the way to the interior.

The capsule room was dark and my body lay unprotected inside the dimly lit capsule. A dark shadow walked over and placed her hands on the capsule. The air around her hand seemed to distort as black characters fluttered upwards from her fingertips and then suddenly, the glass covering my capsule instantly eroded away, leaving my body completely and utterly vulnerable to the dark shadow.

The hand suddenly got covered in black characters, and the characters continued to wrap and twist around before finally, dispersing away, revealing a black, smooth hand with irregularly long and sharp fingertips (Refer to FMA Lust). The clawed hand slowly reached down towards my face...

"Huff...huff...huff..." I panted tiredly as I laid down in a puddle of my own sweat.

"Never knew...cleaning windows...could be this tiring..."

The pretty, blond girl squatting beside me patted my face and grinned.

"You did good Kazuki~ The windows look fabulous."

"Yeah, no thanks to you. You just sat around pointing out all the spots I missed."

"Which means I helped you~"

"In no particular way whatsoever."

"So you say, but if old man sees dirty spots you missed, you'd have to redo the entire thing."

"..."

"See?"

"True."

The same, solemn voice echoed from the far interiors of the temple.

"Kazuki! Cecilia! It's time for dinner!"

"Okay!" Cecilia yelled back. She then turned around and smiled brilliantly at me as she grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the kitchen. I could only continue to stare at her brilliantly blond hair and her radiating smile.

*Ho...? So her name is Cecilia. I need to keep that in mind...*

The dinner table was set up simple, with 3 chairs set up around the table. The old man sat on one side while Cecilia and I sat beside each other across from him. Dinner was a simple meal, spaghetti with organic tomato sauce splattered across it coupled with cranberry juice. The old man wore a red sash across his body.

"""Itadakimasu!"""

The three of us said before digging in ferociously to the steaming spaghetti. Through all the eating, the priest said,

"So...Kazuki...are you done cleaning the windows yet?"

Munch...munch...gulp. "Yes old man."

"Mhm. Good."

"I helped him!" Cecilia added on.

"As expected of Cecilia. A perfect child like always, much unlike Kazuki. Troublesome boy."

"Guh..."

"Haha! I was just joking Kazuki. Both of you are great children and I'm expecting lots from the two of you."

""Mhm..."" Both Cecilia and I murmured.

"Alright you two, after lunch, we'll get straight to magic practice shall we? Accel magic again today! Let's hurry up and finish now!"

The priest stood up and quickly washed his plates in the sink and placed them on a rack to dry. Cecilia stood up to put her plates away too and I quickly stood up as well, wanting to help her with the dishes. However, from my sudden movement, the cranberry juice toppled over the edge of the table as the blood red liquid came splattering onto the floor.

The clawed hand moved down and caressed my face before sticking a vicious looking fingertip into my neck. My entire body jerked and the finger protruding from my neck began to pulse.

SLAP.

"Tsssk! Ow!" I slapped my neck in pain as the priest and Cecilia turned back to look at me worriedly. Cecilia quickly asked,

"What's wrong?"

"Che, must've been a fly."

I quickly bent over the table again to pick up the fallen cup and I suddenly saw the small puddle of red the cranberry juice made. A sharp pain shot into my head and I grabbed my head and knelt on the floor. The dimension around me fuzzed.

*Garh! W-what's...happening? Ow...huh? Cecilia? Old man? AhhhhHHHHHHH!*

I collapsed on the floor holding my head in pain. When I looked up, the lovely temple had lost it's warm, comfy feel. A gusty breeze howled through the house as everything was in tatters. Broken furniture law strewn across the floor.

"KYAHHHHHHHH!"

I heard Cecilia's scream from outside and I immediately activated Accel 3 and rushed outside only to see blood and gore everywhere. Body parts, indistinguishable, lay everywhere. In the centre of it all, a towering Beast. On the Beast, a red sash, except this time, an even uglier red. Stained with blood. In the Beast's hand, was a squirming Cecilia. My eyes widened in horror and I roared,

"oooOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH! LET GO OF AKEMI!"

I charged forward and hurled my fist at the Beast in the face, sending the Beast flying back a few meters. I caught Cecilia and suddenly my head exploded in pain.

*H-huh...? Who's...Akemi...? Akemi? Akemi. Akemi Akemi Akemi AKEMI AKEMI AKE-*

"UWOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I placed Cecilia down and grabbed my face with both of my hands, veins in my head pulsating. Suddenly, the Beast came back and struck me in the stomach, sending me flying back. It chased after me and continued to attack me. I coughed up blood over and over again, as I continued to try and fight the Beast.

"Che...you damned...old man..."

As I continued trading blows with the Beast, I suddenly heard a raspy voice, unmistakably the priest's voice, rumble out from inside the Beast.

"K...k...kill me...Kazuki...protect...Cecilia...Sorry..."

My eyes widened but immediately hardened as I struck down ruthlessly at the fallen priest. I continued to pound down at the Beast until I had thoroughly killed it. Just before it died, I heard it, not the priest, rasp,

"The...box...shall be opened..."

From the various, gaping wounds I inflicted on the Beast, sharp, black spikes shot up and pierced my body and I screamed in pain.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Just as the Beast died, I could hear it's raspy laugh. I fell into a puddle of my own diluted blood. Rain pitter pattered down from above. I felt my consciousness waning away. My body was suddenly flipped over and I saw two shadows over me, yelling, trying to save me perhaps. Or kill me. I can't remember. Through the pitter pattering rain, the two silhouettes above me, I suddenly saw Cecilia perfectly clearly standing above me. She smiled brilliantly again, and said,

"It's time to go back Kazuki...to your real world...please. Find me Kazuki. You already know where I am..."

Right after that, everything faded to black.

Voices swirled around me.

*Huh? This again...? Where am I this time...? What happened...? I fell into the void...oh yeah...Cecilia...and then I died...?*

I slowly cracked open my eyes and looked around. I was back in the capsule room. The voices swirling around me grew louder and louder as my eyes focused.

"...zuki...Kazuki...Kazuki!"

I slowly sat up and looked around. I suddenly felt a weight against my body. I blinked a couple times to see Akemi hugging tightly to my body. I smiled and placed an arm around her and looked up to see Kyle, Haruo, Shizuka, Rin, Ms. Mika, and Ms. Aiko standing all around me.

"A...ra...?"

After a small, awkward silence, Kyle erupted and cried,

"EHHHH! KAZUKI! YOU'RE BACK!"

He grinned wildly and smacked my on my back. Shizuka rushed over and pulled me and Akemi into her arms and said,

"Oh...I was so worried."

Haruo looked away and muttered,

"Congratulations on returning. You better not slack off."

Before walking off.

I smiled and said,

"Thanks, Haruo."

It may have just been my imagination but it seemed as if Haruo blushed slightly before walking out of the door. Rin coughed and said,

"A-as expected of my disciple. You better cook a feast tonight. We had to eat convenience food for the past two days..."

"Haha, alright Rin-senpai. Wait, how long was I out for?"

Ms. Mika said,

"Kazuki-kun, you were unconscious for approximately 3 days."

"Oh...I see."

Then, I averted my attention to Ms. Aiko.

"Ms. Aiko...why are you here?"

"Kazuki-kun~ Isn't it obvious? I'm here to check up on your condition~"

"O-oh I see..."

However, something about the way Ms. Aiko said it unnerved me. Ms. Aiko gently removed the crying Akemi and Shizuka off of me and patted me all around me body. She leaned her head close to my ear and whispered inaudibly,

"Come to my office later...I know where Cecilia is."

My eyes widened as I said quietly,

"Wha-"

Ms. Aiko cut me off by placing a finger on my mouth.

"Come to my office. I'll tell you everything I know."

I quickly regained composure and nodded slightly. Ms. Aiko then stood up, quickly said,

"Mhm~ There's nothing life threatening about Kazuki. He may need a couple day's rest though, but he's in good health!"

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and right before Ms. Aiko left, she shot me a serious look before sweeping herself out of the room. Everyone continued to talk in a bubbly manner all around me and I smiled genuinely as I was swept away by their hype.


	10. EDEN: The Avaritia Incident

TOK TOK. I knocked on the infirmary door before opening it and going inside.

"Sorry for interrupting..."

I walked inside and closed the door behind me. Surprisingly, I found the room empty and the lights dimmed and flickering ominously.

*Odd...*

"Ms. Aiko-san...? Are you there...? Hello?"

I asked as I slowly walked further into the room. Suddenly, I hear a faint voice from a room at the back of the infirmary. I tiptoed closer to hear better.

"...Mhm. I see. Okay. So in two weeks time then? Okay. I know, I'll be careful. It's okay, nobody saw anything. Okay. So two weeks then? Okay. Goodbye sir."

*Huh? Who was Ms. Aiko talking to on the phone? 'Goodbye sir.'...? Why is she so formal...? And what's happening in two wee-*

"Ka~ Zu~ Ki~"

"A-ara..?"

I slowly turned to face a fiery faced Ms. Aiko, glaring down at me while cracking her knuckles. A red, ominous, burning aura crawled all around her.

"Eavesdropping is not good, right Kazuki?"

"Oh, uh, y-yeah. That."

"So then..."

Ms. Aiko placed each hand on each of my shoulders, the aura getting larger and larger.

"...WHY WERE YOU EAVESDROPPING HUUUH?"

She shook me with inhuman speed that could have been on par with Mr. Hiretsu's power.

"GwAaaaAaaaAaaAAaaAAAaaaHHH...I-I-I...I'm sOOOOOOrrYY...Ms. AiIIIiiiKKooo-sAAn."

She suddenly let go of me and I collapsed onto the ground in a heap. She did a 360 spin and by the time she came around, her face had regained it's original, bubbly expression. She said while in a cute pose,

"Well! As long as you understand Kazuki-kun!"

I slowly got up and patted the dust off my body.

"Haha...yeah."

Suddenly, Ms. Aiko's expression because serious. She said,

"Dropping aside the unimportant things, you came here to see me because you wanted to know more about what's happened right? Come with me."

She spun around curtly and led me into the small room at the back of the infirmary. After I entered, the door closed by itself behind me. Ms. Aiko then proceeded to gesture for me to sit down on the couch beside her while grinning at me naughtily. I kindly refused and sat across from her as she pouted. After I seated myself, I suddenly realized that the tea had somehow appeared on the table before me, and Ms. Aiko had already begun sipping it. I picked up the cup before me and proceeded to sip from it.

"So Kazuki. Where would you like to start? Who is Vetitum? Where is Cecilia? And how about that sharp pain you felt on your neck during the flashback?"

My eyes widened in shock as I wondered,

*Wha- how did you know that...?*

"Hmm~ Seems I'm hitting right on the nail huh. So, let's start with-"

"Sorry. First thing's first. What was the outcome of the match?"

"Oh? Oh right, you didn't know because you were unconscious. Okay, so technically you won the preliminary round against the student council team, but since you were out of commission and the battles had to continue, your team was forcefully removed from battle and the student council team then continued straight to victory. And plus, even if they had allowed Akemi-chan and Kyle-kun to continue fighting without you, they would not have won anyways. The two of them were in no shape to fight after hearing about what's happened to you."

"Hm...I see."

"Anything else you wanted to ask before we get to the meat and bones of our meeting?"

"Oh, um...no. I don't think so..."

"Okay. So let's start I guess. What should I tell you about first...oh...I don't know...I guess we'll just go in order as I said it before. Vetitum. Who is Vetitum, okay?"

"Oh, um sure."

"Vetitum. So everything really started about 5 years ago. 5 years ago, when Rin-senpai was still the student council president (Note that the schooling system is now different, and that high school is now much longer than what it was before.), a terrorist organization appeared."

My eyes widened in shock.

"You've probably not heard of this, but all information and events concerning this terrorist organization were covered up and stashed away to avoid causing global, no, universal chaos. The organization was called EDEN. 5-6 years ago, an incident happened that forced mankind's strongest powers to move. A single individual from EDEN, named Avaritia, or Greed, attempted a forceful takeover of Earth. Naturally, this was a ludicrous idea. Even if Earth was the supposed 'weakest planet', it would still take an incredible amount of effort to overtake the entire planet. Usually, only planets can take over other planets. So nobody heeded much to any threats or warnings. That was until Avaritia struck. Within a mere week, Avaritia had managed to subdue 95% of Earth, and only fractions of Earth remained out of his control. Amongst those fractions, was us, the Academy here on Earth. Holding Avaritia back, was the teachers, staff, and student council; who voluntarily helped fight to buy time for the other students to escape. At the time, the Student Council consisted of Rin, Shizuka, Yoshinda, and our current president. Surprisingly enough, as though it was a miracle, the resistance managed to hold their ground; even perhaps managed to hurt Avaritia. However, tragedy struck as Avaritia managed to find an opening and attempted to kill Rin. Yoshinda managed to push Rin away, but the result was..."

I stared at Ms. Aiko in shock, my entire body frozen in fear.

"...Yoshinda was cut in half from the hip to to her ribcage, and Rin's left arm was torn off. Rin collapsed instantly as a black aura overtook her and in blind rage, Shizuka used a kind of magic none of us had seen before, by integrating healing magic, burst, and accel magic together to create an incredibly powerful attack that managed to damage Avaritia just enough so that he decided to retreat. Right after the battle however, Shizuka's body broke down from the damage as was in critical condition for over a month. Rin became possessed by the Beast magic, and struggled to contain in. Full physical rehabilitation for Rin took over 3 months, and she lost her left arm permanently. I believe...up till this day, Rin still thinks it was her fault that Yoshinda died."

"But..."

"Truth be told, nobody can really blame Rin. However, there's another facet to the story that nobody really knew about. Yoshinda, incredibly, had managed to receive a transfer to another Academy, only a few ranks below UMAM. However, unwilling to part with Rin, Yoshinda decided to stay at the Academy on Earth, and later died here on Earth as well."

I could only remain silent as the story slowly processed in my mind. Ms. Aiko looked at me with serious eyes, paused to sip the tea, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before continuing,

"The incident rocked not just the world, but the universe. The existence of EDEN became immediately known throughout the superforces of the universe. To avoid chaos however, we managed to perform a clean brain wipe of almost everyone on Earth, erasing the memory permanently. Till this day, superforces remain diligent and are prepared to strike with everything they have upon first sight of any person from EDEN. Now to round things off a bit, we have theorized that Vetitum is not just a member of EDEN, but potentially the leader. Originally, it was only a hypothesis that members of EDEN named themselves after the 7 Deadly Sins, but since hearing the name Vetitum, we have now 98% confirmed it. Vetitum means Forbidden Fruit, and perhaps the origin of sin; thus our conclusion that he is perhaps the head of EDEN. How Vetitum ended up in your body, we do not know."

I took a deep breath and sighed heavily. After thinking a bit, it suddenly occurred to me that Rin and Shizuka were no longer in the Student Council.

"Wait, why aren't Rin and Shizuka-"

"Do you really think Rin could bear her sense of guilt? Do you think they'd be able to stay in the Student Council? Rin and Shizuka resigned immediately after the incident, and their decision went through without anybody saying anything."

"Oh...also, Vetitum said something in my head and I didn't really understand it..."

"Oh?"

"He said...he said something about me being his, or the, Pandora's Box, and about me being his...his...nevermind."

*I don't think it'd be wise to tell anybody about me supposedly being his son...yet at least.*

Ms. Aiko looked at me curiously with a single eyebrow raised, but didn't inquire further.

"Hm...this is important information. Thank you for telling us. You being the Pandora's Box is potentially a vital piece of information. This means that you are not just any normal person anymore, but also a potential chess piece to EDEN's set. We'll have to keep an extra eye on you, but we'll ensure your safety. I hope at least..."

"O-okay..."

"Alright. To your flashback was it?"

"Huh?"

I looked confused for a moment before remembering our conversation from before.

"R-right. And Cecilia?"

"Right. From my research, she's a top-class student, a noble, with high grades and stunning beauty. She currently attends UMAM, and is in the same grade as you."

"Oh...I see. And something about my neck?"

"Ah...yes. I have something to tell you Kazuki...my real name is Aiko. However, my codename is The Mad Doctor. Rin's codename is Black Blade. You see, Rin isn't the only one that has abilities to control Beast magic; she's not the only one that got taken over during the Avaritia incident."

I looked at Ms. Aiko in a confused manner but then widened my eyes in shock as her fingertips extended outwards and became sharp and black. Black characters crept along her arm and one of her eyes turned pitch black.

"Y-you..."

"Yes Kazuki, while you were trapped in the VT void, I used my ability to induce a forceful memory jolt, causing a violent reaction to happen. Although dangerous, I had enough faith that you'd make it out, and thus allowed you to escape faster."

"B-but how...how are you..."

"There are 9 Beast users currently out there, you being the 10th. Or at least 9 registered Beast users, who are without a doubt, the strongest 9 out there. Rin is one of them, named Black Blade, has the ability to create black energy slashes that can go a far distance while maintaining their magnitude of force and destructive ability. She can hash out as many as she likes, and with large amounts of training, has been able to create her own sword style that integrates precision and absolute, blind destruction. My ability, granting me the name The Mad Doc, is to voluntarily generate miracle solutions to diseases, induce memories, cause people to lose memories, make someone stronger, temporarily of course, weaken someone. I can perform any kind of injection, surgery, almost anything. So far, not a single one of my patients has died, despite my slightly wild ways of working. Which gave me the name The Mad Doc. The other 7 registered members are all studying at UMAM. In fact, every registered member has an automatic pass to study at UMAM due to the rarity of their power and the potential each one of us can achieve."

"Then why aren't you and Rin over there?"

"Well, I don't like the competitive environment they have at UMAM and I want to stick with my sister for now, Ms. Mika, and Rin doesn't want to go because she said she felt guilty that Yoshinda died because of her, and that it would be unacceptable to transfer now. She said it was as if she stole Yoshinda's future, her everything."

"Oh...I see..."

"Well...any more questions?"

"Um...the thing about having Beast magic, you said before, does every single one of the 9 registered Beast users have a special ability? And what about the unregistered ones?"

"Yes, the other 7 registered Beast users also have their own, unique power. Unregistered Beast users should have their own abilities too, but would have it at a much less developed state than any of the registered users."

"Then what about me...?"

"Well, you're a Beast user aren't you? And considering you're also the supposed Pandora's Box, I'm sure you'll also have a unique ability; a particularly strong one at that most likely."

"Oh...I see, I see."

I clenched my fists as I stared down at them.

*What kind of power do I have inside of me? I want to know! I want to know! I want to-*

"Don't worry Kazuki, you'll be able to figure out your ability in due time. It takes time to find out what it is though...the fastest person took a little over half a year to find out what it was, and then another few years to develop it. I personally took almost a year to find my ability, The Mad Doc."

"Oh..."

Despite knowing that it may take me awhile to figure out what my unique ability is, I still could feel my body shaking in anticipation; the feeling one gets right before they get a large exam mark back, or before lottery ticket numbers are announced. Suddenly, I noticed an ominous presence coming from...

I look up.

...the direction of Ms. Aiko. My face turns blue when I saw her expression; one that expresses naughtiness and the kind of expression one would have right before they strike-

In the next instant, I found myself lying on the ground facing the ceiling, Ms. Aiko sitting on top of me, her sharp, black fingertips hovering above my face and body.

"Now then, shall we begin our little medical checkup?"

She smiled devilishly and slowly pulled apart my clothing, revealing my bare chest. She then jammed her fingers in various spots all over my torso and neck, occasionally muttering numbers and chemicals to herself as she did so. Finally, she stopped, paused a while to think, and then stabbed her index finger tip into my main artery, injecting some form of miracle compound into my body before pulling out. My wound instantly sealed by itself.

"Alright Kazuki, incredible body you have there. Rehabilitation is almost fully complete. I have just injected a liquid into you for the final push over the wall, back into good health. The chemical should act as both a painkiller as well as keep your body in shape, but will have minor side effects. Nothing serious though. I'll check up on you later. You may go now."

She returned to her original form before smiling at me and turning around to do paperwork. As I turned around to leave, I suddenly heard her call out to me,

"Oh Kazuki! For the next 1-2 days, do NOT come into contact with large quantities of water. Like, taking a shower for example. Or a bath. You can drink water though."

"Oh...okay."

Despite replying, I was too immersed in my own thoughts of the Avaritia Incident as well as my own potential, unique ability to have paid any attention to Ms. Aiko's warning. Her warning as quickly as it came, left my memory.

After walking a fair distance from the infirmary, I quickly checked the school time and realized that it was already half past 7.

*Oh...it's 7:30...wait. 7:30? Shoot! I need to get back and cook for everyone! Gah, and Rin told me to be back by 7:00 latest too...ahhh. I'm definitely in for a hell of a beating today...*

I quickly sprinted off into the darkness and headed home.


	11. Overnight Trip to the Onsen

My naked body glittered in the shower room of the onsen, covered up ever so slightly by the puffs of air vapour. I feel a heavy weight on my chest. A new, oddly uncomfortable strain could be felt in my lower back, as if to hold up my upper torso. My originally, fairly muscular and toned body, has become slender. My skin went from a slightly tanned pale to a pearly white colour, as smooth as silk. I lost about 2-3 inches worth of height and my hair suddenly grew out to halfway down my torso. My lips become cherry red and my eyes, as if by magic, became...almost... bigger. More...feminine. I look in the mirror as the realization sank in. I felt 'down low' for, per se, "Mr. Happy". "Mr. Happy" wasn't there. I felt oddly scared. I quickly think back,

"[This is Aiko speaking]...Oh Kazuki! For the next 1-2 days, do NOT come into contact with large quantities of water..."

*...ohh. So that's why. Explains everything now. So this was what she meant by, 'don't come into contact with water'...but she never said anything about me turning into a GIRL!*

I grit my teeth irritably and shot another glance at my new, female look. Finding myself oddly embarrassed about looking at myself naked, now that I'm a girl, I continued to peek at my well rounded, fairly busty body. Finally, when I was able to get over my embarrassment, I took a good look at myself, commenting,

"Damn. To be honest, I look really hot don't I?"

Suddenly, the door creaked open and in came Kyle calling,

"Oi~ Kazuki~ What's taking you so-"

*SHOOT! I'M A GIRL NOW! SHIT, I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE, I NEED TO-*

For a brief moment, time itself stopped. Kyle stared at me, eyes bulging, his carnal instincts forcing him to take perverted glances at my chest and lower body, whereas I, with my new, female instincts, tried my best to cover up my body as much as I could.

So. How in the world did I get to where I was now. Here's the story explaining the events that led to where I am right now.

[4 Hours Ago]

"Okay, is everybody here? Let's do attendence. Akemi...here...Haruo...here...Kyle...here... Okay! Everybody is here! Well let's go then!"

"Huh? Wha? What's happening? Where are we goin-"

"You dumbass Kyle. We're going to the onsen remember? Ms. Mika mentioned it to her yesterday. She said the onsen has magical, regenerative powers that can heal wounds or something. It's an overnight onsen trip okay?"

"Wha- oh. I see. Okay."

"So...is everyone ready?"

""""Yes Ms. Mika!""""

A classy looking, well polished, sleek looking coach bus rolled up to the school and stopped beside our class. Everyone gaped and stared in awe as the newest coach bus model, the Model TFL-12, opened it's sleek, glossy doors, revealing a beautiful interior. The inside was well lit and lined with nice, well-cushioned seats. The seats arranged themselves in twos, and were able to turn 180 degrees so that you could chat with your fellow classmates behind you if you so wished to. Adjustable arm and leg rests were readily available for use, and a 30 inch TV screen with all the latest TV episodes and movies hung from the ceiling at a comfortable watching distance away from you. The entire floor of the coach bus was well carpeted and 2 washrooms were placed at the back of the bus. Adjustable lighting and sound for the television were a given.

Ms. Mika smiled as she watched our eyes twinkle like stars. After waiting a while, she finally broke the awe-filled silence.

"Alright class, let's get on then."

While walking into the bus, expecting us to follow suit. The majority of us continued to gape in awe as we slowly walked towards the bus, and gaped even wider when we saw the jazzed out interior. To say the least, the bus could easily fit a class twice the size of our class. Needless to say, there would be no need to fight over the seating plan.

Despite knowing that, we all instinctively charged in and went for the seats. Kyle, due to his height and fairly large figure, was able to intimidate off fellow classmates, which allowed him to pick a seat located somewhere near the middle but closer to the back. He quickly waved us, Akemi and I, over to sit down with him. Akemi and I seated ourselves beside each other before spinning our chairs around to face Kyle. We began to chat animatedly while the rest of the class seated itself. After the class has settled down, Ms. Mika did one final headcount and told the bus driver to get going.

"...A-alright. I'll do it."

"Y-you sure man? You might not make it..."

"It's okay. I got this. I'm taking one for the team."

"Bro, BRO! NO! STOP THIS." I faked a sniffle. "Y-you've done so much already..."

"Heh. Kazuki, this is what it means to be a hero."

"Oh Kyle..."

"Kazuki..."

"I-I don't know if I can go on withou-"

"No. Let's not drag this out anymore. Kazuki, you've been a good friend. This is goodbye. Go on without me, sayonara..."

"N-n-n-NOOOOO, KYLEEEEE!"

"ALRIGHT AKEMI, I'M READY FOR THIS! HIT ME!"

Pa! Akemi flipped the card that was laying face down on the table over. It was the 4 of Hearts. I quickly bend over to look at Kyle's cards. I quicked did some mental math and the cards in his hand came up to a sum of 18.

As Kyle came to the realization that his current hand added up to 18 and the flipped over card was 4, he immediately became sullen. I patted him on his back while comforting him,

"It's okay Kyle, everyone loses once in a while."

However, Akemi continued,

"But I've got to admit, it's pretty impressive losing Black Jack 7 times in a row, always getting 1 digit too high. You've got to admit, if Black Jack meant adding up to 22, you would've been the biggest winner right now."

"Ha..ha...yeah. That's right Kyle! Don't feel too...bad..."

The sullen Kyle quietly rolled up into a ball in his seat and turned to face out the window. He stifled a fake sob as he pretended to stare out at the non-existent rain. I groaned and finally said,

"Kyle...if you want...we can play something else?"

Like an 8 year old child, he immediately brightened up and cried,

"Let's watch some TV then! I wanted to watch BeastSlayer Fantasy IV: The Rise of the Fallen!"

"Haha...alright then! How about you Akemi? Do you want to watch it as well? You seem kinda tired."

"Well...I think I'm going to sleep for the rest of the bus ride. I'm kind of tired..."

She suddenly turned to look Kyle straight in the eye.

"...of winning."

Kyle choked out some blood before curling up into a ball again while muttering to himself,

"I'm not a loser...I'm not a loser...I'm not a loser...I'm not a loser..."

I sigh to myself and turn to look at Akemi, who simply smiled back and laid her head on my shoulder and began to nap. I turned back and looked at Kyle, who was still muttering to himself, and finally said,

"Okay Kyle...I guess I'm going to be napping for a while too then. I'm also slightly tired. If you want to watch BeastSlayer Fantasy IV, go ahead. Keep it quiet though..."

"I'm not a loser...I'm not a loser...I'm not a loser..."

I smile as I continued to look at Kyle.

*What a funny guy...he seems so good natured and is so easily hurt...how adorable.*

I close my eyes and quickly drifted off into sleep, unconsciously resting my head on top of Akemi's head, which rested on my shoulder. As I feel asleep, Kyle quickly reverted back to his original self (stopped acting essentially), and turned on the TV to watch BeastSlayer Fantasy IV, remembering to turn the volume down.

*Huh...? Where...am...I...? It's dark...huh? A light...?*

I see a faint light. A silhouette. It was the silhouette of a girl, with voluminous, wavy, long, blonde hair. A name suddenly floated into my mind. I thought,

*Ce...cilia? Cecilia?*

The silhouette responded and turned to face me. A single tear drop rolled down the girl's cheek. She shaked her head, as if in frustration, and reached out her hand towards me. Suddenly, the hand distorted and became black. It reached over and grabbed my mouth. I grabbed it's muscled forearm, trying in vain to break free from it's grip. A glowing, pair of red eyes glowered at me. A voice hissed,

*"Kazuki...my son...I shall pay you a visit soon...and open you, my Pandora's Box..."*

*Huh? Vetitum...?*

As if he didn't hear me, the silhouette continued speaking. However this time, more absently, more vaguely,

*"Soon...my dear...soon"*

In desperation, I called out to him,

*Who are you talking to? Are you Vetitum? Answer me! Vetitum? Vetitum! Vetitum!*

However, the voice slowly faded away and the silhouette grew darker and darker. Soon, my vision became pitch black again. I struggled and strained my eyes to see but was all for naught. The pressure on my mouth slowly lifted and I gasped for breath, realizing that I was holding my breath the entire time. My consciousness slowly fades away.

Suddenly, I hear another voice calling out to me. A gentle feeling, brushing my hair. A voice, gentle, calm, and muffled, quietly said,

"...ke...up...Kazuki...Wake up...Kazuki, wake up! We're here now!"

I slowly opened my eyes and squinted as my eyes adjusted to the lights. I found myself sleeping on Akemi's lap, as she gently ran her hand through my hair.

"Mhhm...good morning..."

"Haha, it's already the afternoon, silly."

"Oh...I see. And Kyle?"

I turned over to look for Kyle, only to see him sleeping in an awkward position, taking up both seats on the other side. I got up from Akemi's lap, roughly shook Kyle awake, and told him what Akemi told me; that we've arrived.

"Alright, is everyone ready to get off the bus?"

Ms. Mika said as she looked around for anymore sleeping students. After confirming that all of us were conscious, although drowsy, but conscious, she proceeded to give a series of pointless instructions (going along the lines of, 'Don't make a mess, don't destroy anything, don't hurt anybody', and other common sense things), before telling us to grab our personal belongings and to get off the bus. Our clothing and luggage had already been moved to our designated rooms.

We all got off the bus, quite reluctantly, and headed over to the old, Japanese style dorm. We quickly located our rooms and went inside. Each room was a 6 tatami room, with a single, round table in the middle and two shelves on the side. A small closet containing the futons was located beside the shelves. It was a simple yet cozy room with a real nostalgic feel to it. Each room could accommodate 2 people, so Kyle and I were rooming. Akemi's room was located 3 rooms away, across the central hallway, on the girl's side of the dorm. Akemi roomed by herself due to the fact that there was an odd number of girls and males and females were forbidden to room together. As for the males, Haruo roomed by himself.

We quickly started unpacking, and Kyle finished far earlier than me. He grinned and said

"Yo Kazuki, I'll be heading over to the onsen first then 'kay?"

"Oh yeah, sure! I catch up with you soon."

"Dude, don't spend too much time unpacking your porn mags, we can do that later at night eh?"

"Pfft, what are you talking about. I'm not like you Kyle, I, unlike most guys, do not have interests in porn mags."

"Suit yourself, you're missing out on one of life's great delicacies."

"Delicacies in your opinion."

"In the male population's opinion."

"Well what about me?"

"You're...fine. In 99.999999% of the male population. Happy?"

"Haha, I'm just messing with you. Head over to the onsen first then, I'll catch up alright?"

"Aye aye sir! See you later then!"

Kyle grabbed his phone and his onsen things before rushing out of the room. I continued to unpack, slowly losing track of time. After what felt like 10 minutes, I suddenly felt my phone ring. I took it out and picked up the call.

"Hello?"

"Damn it Kazuki? Where are you? I've been waiting for 25 minutes already! How long does it take to unpack?"

I looked around at my perfectly organized belongings before realizing that I had lost track of time.

"Oh..uh...sorry. I'll head down now. I lost track of time."

"Hmph, better be down here quick. Everyone's already finished changing and showering. We're planning to peep on the girls you know? You don't want to miss out on that..."

"Alright, alright, I'm comin- wait. You peek at Akemi and I swear I'll kill yo-"

Bz. Bz. Bz. Kyle had hung up on me. I sighed and imagined his goofy, grinning face. I smiled to myself before quickly grabbing my belongings and heading down to the onsen. I quickly changed, and got into the shower room. I quickly turned on the shower and felt the nice, warm water rinse and wash over me.

And that's how we got to where we were at the beginning of this chapter.

For a brief moment, time itself stopped. Kyle stared at me, eyes bulging, his carnal instincts forcing him to take perverted glances at my chest and lower body, whereas I, with my new, female instincts, tried my best to cover up my body as much as I could.

Time slowly began to start again, the second hand finally continuing it's infinite course around the clock. Blood spewing out of his nose, Kyle spluttered,

"K-Kazuki? HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT KAZU-"

With an instantaneous burst of Accel 3, I covered the 15 or so meters between Kyle and I within nanoseconds and I jammed my hand on his mouth, forcefully stopping him from yelling. He stared down at my with amazement and I stared back with pleading eyes. I whispered,

"Oi, you gotta help me man. I don't know what to do. I'm going to let my hands off your mouth but you promise not to scream okay?"

He nodded quickly and I released my hand. Kyle coughed a couple times and took a deep breath. He whispered back to me,

"Holy cow dude, you look pretty damn sexy. I mean, I'd totally go for you..."

"Yes, yes. I would go for me too. It's a weird feeling. But shut up and help me out here. I dunno what I should do. Should I go to the girls side of the onsen? Should I stay here? No, no no no. I can't stay here. If I do, the other boys will be all over me in seconds."

"Men are wolves Kazuki, better watch out."

"Yes, thanks, I know. I was once a man too."

"Once."

"Wait, scratch that. I'm still a man, but something fucked up and now I'm TEMPORARILY a female."

"Temporarily a female, still a female."

I turned around and glared him in the eye.

"Dude, are you going to help or not?"

"I feel an incredible urge to hit on you right now."

"Kyle, we're both boys and we both know that. You're my best friend. Don't do this."

"But you're..."

"Okay that's it. I friendzoning you."

"Ouch."

"C'mon, SERIOUSLY. Help damnit, help!"

"Well I would but it doesn't help that you're butt naked right now. It's like WWII in my head right now, and my carnal desires are about to take over all logic and sense so you better figure something out fast, Kazuki, or I swear to our Lord Jesus that I will be on you and all over you within the next minute."

"...Okay true that. Well firstly, get my towel from the men's change room. I need to dry off and cover my body with something so that I won't feel as embarrassed. Could you do that for me?"

"Only if you let me touch your tits."

"Dude."

"Fine, just the left one."

"Kyle."

"Right one?"

"..."

"So the right one then."

"Kyle. Motherfucking. Smith."

A black, murderous aura welled up from around me as I glared at Kyle. Veins bulged in my forehead as my left eye became pitch black.

"Get my damn towel right now."

"J-just a poke?"

Kyle grinned feverishly while edging back away from me.

"You...dirty...horny...MOTHERFUCKING JACKASS, JUST GO GRAB MY TOWEL BEFORE I SEND YOU OFF TO AN EARLY GRAVE, ORAAAA!"

I grabbed Kyle's face with my right hand and proceeded to throw him, headfirst towards the male's changing room. Kyle smashed right through the wooden door, going through to the other side. A moment later, a blood covered Kyle limped back with my towel.

"Hmph. Jackass."

"If you let me touch you I'll let you off my medical fee-"

SKADOOSH. I punched Kyle right in the face, sending him flying back into the male's changing room. Not waiting for him to come back in, I quickly dried myself off, tied the towel around my body, and hurried after him into the change room. Looking left, right, and centre, making sure there was nobody else except a partially unconscious Kyle, I hurried in and proceeded to get my belongings. I stripped off the towel and whipped on my clothing in record breaking time and then walked over to Kyle. After slapping him conscious, I growled at him,

"Okay Kyle. I'm going to head back to dorm and figure out how exactly I'm going to change back. You can go back to the onsen but don't you dare breathe a word about this. Understood?"

"Y-yeah."

"Okay good. You may go. I'll update you if anything happens. Just keep quiet okay? I'll see you at dinner."

I hurry off and out of the change room, leaving behind a dazed Kyle.

"Woah...Kazuki's pretty hot...he should consider staying like that permanently..."

As I ran down the hallway to my room, I sneezed and rubbed my nose.

*Ugh...must've been out in the cold naked for too long...probably caught a cold or something...*

I quickly located my room, that I shared with Kyle, and tore the door open. Rushing in, I spent only a fraction of the time it took me to unpack, to repack everything. Stuffing all my belongings hastily into my bags and suitcase, I was finished within moments. After standing up and taking a good look around the room for any belongings I might have forgotten, I quickly sling on my backpack, grab my suitcase, and rush out the door.

BANG

I collapse onto the floor and I hear another thud not far away from me. As my vision slowly stopped swimming, I suddenly felt my body become restricted and pushed onto the floor. With my hands pressed behind my back and my face on the floor, I saw the symbols for a fairly high leveled restrictment spell.

*Huh? An enemy? SHIT! I need to retaliate. Okay. Fuck. Calm down. Beast magic. Focus, FOCUS KAZUKI, NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO BE FUCKING AROUND. SHIT!*

I quickly closed my eyes and began to focus. I reached for my Beast magic and began to draw it out. Due to the restrictment, I was unable to draw it out quickly.

*Shit, I gotta be faster. Shit, shit shit shit SHIT!*

Finally drawing it out, I allowed the black characters to sweep over my body. A black aura ignited all around me as my left eye became the disgusting, pitch black colour. I continued to draw out more Beast magic, steadily increasing my ratio. After all, the best way to break restrictment magic is to overpower it, given you have the magical capacity. Hoping that my Beast magic would be enough to break myself free from this high leveled restrictment, I gave it my all and began to draw out even more Beast magic.

*Shit...15%...20%...25%...27%...30%...33%...*

More black characters swarmed my body as the black aura grew thicker and thicker. Parts of my body, including my right hand, developed the black, bark-like texture that came with using Beast magic.

*If I don't give it my all now, I'm not going to break free and I'll probably die. Might as well go for it...38%...*

My entire body began to pulsate. The black aura rippled awkwardly.

*40%*

Suddenly, the rippling stopped, and a single, wicked looking wing tore out of my right shoulder blade. Cracks began to appear in the restrictment magic.

*Guh...good...it's cracking...ugh...41%*

Even the slight 1% increase put an incredible amount of burden on my body. I could feel my consciousness fading in and out. Suddenly, just as I was about to fall unconscious, my senses immediately sharpened. However, instead of seeing the cold, hard, wooden floor that was supposed to be in front of my, I only saw a single, black box in my vision. It had a simple design, and a single keyhole. Blackness swarmed all around the box, and screaming, moaning, and cries of pain could be heard from inside the box. From inside the box however, a light could be seen. Seeping through the gaps of the box, it was as if the light was trying it's best to escape the box. Instinctively, I reached over.

*What...is that?*

As I touched the box, I sudden, overlapping voice, deep and hoarse yet high and shrieking, whispered in my head,

*"Contact...has been made...Identity: Avius Aquiliphaero Epispe...Approved...Pandora's Jar Status: Opened."

Feeling the cool surface of the box, it slowly creaked open and an immense wave of nausea washed over me. I spluttered out blood all over the wooden floor as all my muscles tensed. Veins bulged all over my body as I strained. Incredible amounts of pain coursed through my body as I tried to pull my hand away from the box. Multiple voices, hundreds even, screaming and howling erupted in my ears. The taste of blood and grime filled my mouth. My body felt like it was on fire. Finally, I was able to pull my hand away and everything stopped. My consciousness returned faintly and I realized that I was back, facing the cold, hard, wooden floor. The restrictment spell, although cracked all over and almost collapsing, continued to hold me down. Suddenly, I hear a panting voice. A familiar voice, in a harsh manner, demanding,

"...are you? Who are you? Stop resisting! Although I'm a teacher, I have confidence in my abilities to subdue you right this moment. Why were you visiting this place. What business do you have with us? Why are you after Kazuki's stuff? Who are you? ANSWER ME?"

*Huh...this voice...Ms...Mika?*

I croaked out,

"Ms...Mika?"

From the shock of hearing her voice, she lost focus and the spell broke. My muscles relaxed and I sagged into a limp pile of myself. Sweat and blood lay strewn across the floor. My entire body ached. I groaned and rolled over to see the sweaty face of Ms. Mika as well. She stared at me closely, and then asked,

"Ka...zuki?"

Without an ounce of strength left, I nodded and fell unconscious.

As I slowly come to my senses, I found myself lying on a sofa in a nice room. It was a fairly large room, and was most likely the 'master bedroom' of the onsen we were staying at.

"...didn't you tell me? I almost put him in serious condition! Seriously! You're such a troublesome imuoto! Take care of your kouhai better next time...mhm...yeah. Okay. Yeah. Bye."

I sat up and held my head in pain. Ms. Mika walked over and placed her forehead against mine. I blushed heavily, but immediately recovered when she pulled away.

"Mhm! Good Kazuki, looks like you're mostly recovered."

"O-oh. Thanks Ms. Mika."

"Yes. I had my sister, Aiko, explain the situation to me. She says that if you come into contact with large amounts of water, that you'll become a female."

"Oh..."

"And she didn't tell you this did she?"

"Well...no, not really."

Ms. Mika sighed to herself before shaking her head and facepalming herself

"Typical..."

After a brief pause, I turned and asked Ms. Mika,

"Um...Miss?"

"Mhm?"

"What about rooming? Am I too still room with Kyle?"

Ms. Mika turned over and looked at me. After judging me briefly, she said,

"With that kind of a body? Not a squirrel's chance in the Hole. He'll be all over you the moment you're asleep. Don't worry, I've already made arrangements. You'll be rooming with Akemi for tonight. Kyle will have the room to himself, like Haruo."

"Oh...I see. Thank you."

"Mhm, no problem."

"So...should I head back over to the onsen? Can I?"

"Oh yeah, for sure. But you'll have to go to the girl's side though...if you're fine with that..."

"Oh...then maybe not-"

"It's okay, by this time, they'll all be finished. You can have the onsen to yourself, it's fine."

"Ah, I see."

I quickly got up, grabbed my belongings, respectfully bid Ms. Mika goodbye again, and rushed over to the onsen. Almost going into the male side but catching myself, I go into the girls side and was prepared to enjoy the onsen for myself.

That's when everything went to hell.

I burst into the onsen humming to myself only to come across female galore. Naked, female bodies covered the entire expanse of the onsen. Girls sat inside the onsen, on the edge, stood around, who were all chatting with each other, stopped when they saw me burst in. Everyone eyeing me with slight suspicion. Knowing that I'm a female and that I've got nothing to worry about, I simply stared back.

After a pause, a girl quickly gestured me over and cried,

"Stop being such a stranger! We're all girls here! Come!"

*Oh Dear Lord, thank you for this gift for I have sinned and I will probably sin again. FUCK YEAH!*

Before I could even respond, a jet of blood shot out my nostrils and I fell on the onsen floor smiling retardedly. Finally recovering, I found myself sandwiched in between small and big breasts, trying my very best not to have another nosebleed. Looking around, I realized that the fog was so thick it was impossible for the boys to be able to see anything.

Remembering that all the boys had looked forward to peeping, I quietly said my condolences to them

*Sorry guys...but I'll be taking one for the team. Or should I have said, taken them all for the team. HA, THIS IS GREAT!*

Sitting with my back to the rest of the girls and acting as naturally as I could while avoiding all eye contact possible, I just simply sat and enjoyed the onsen, hoping that the rest of the girls would soon leave.

It was my mistake to think so.

I saw it coming. And I knew there was no way around it; not when my breasts were so damn big.

I pair of hands wrapped themselves around my waist and began to grope me.

"A-ah!"

I cried femininely,

"S-stahp it!"

I suddenly felt multiple murderous auras behind me. I snuck a peek behind me only to see all the girls facing me. Their hands, all ready to grope me.

*Shit.*

As if they all had Accel 9000+, I was instantly pushed into a swarm of girls, all groping me and crying,

"Oh my! So big! Is this a C-cup?"

"Wow! I'd say it's a D!"

"What size bra do you use?"

"You're waist is so nice! It's so thin! How did you do it? What do you eat?"

"Omg, your skin is so smooth!"

"Wow! So soft!"

"Kya! Your hair is just like silk! I love it! What conditioner do you use? Giorela? Or is it Foinesse? It's Touchessi's isn't it? Omg! It's definitely Touchessi's!"

I tried to keep my cool in the sea of breasts and asses. But as a boy, I could only hold on for so long. I burst out with all my strength and headed straight for the door. All the girls chased after me with questions inquiring my body.

Just as I was about to burst out of the onsen, the door opened and Akemi walked in. Her smooth, naked body was just too much for me. I instantly fainted at her feet. The last thing I saw was her staring down at me questioningly.

*Ahh...am I dead? Is this heaven...? Ahh...Akemi-chan...was so...attractive and cute...ahh...I wouldn't mind if I died now...I'm content with my life...haha...ahh...so great...*

As I was thinking this, I slowly crack open my eyes to see a dark ceiling. The light, directly above me, was turned off. Instead, over to the side of the room, a dim light peered over. A slim silhouette blocked off most of the light, and was bent over the table, as if writing something or reading a book.

I slowly sit up and rub my head. I felt a little heavy in the head, but was generally in fairly good shape considering the things that've happened to me earlier today. Upon hearing me sit up, the silhouette paused what it was doing, and turned around to face me. The silhouette's long hair dropped down onto her (presumably a girl) shoulders. The silhouette then leaned forward and stood up. Despite the, visually obvious, smaller bust in her chest, her slim and refined waist made up for it, giving her a noble yet fragile feel.

I automatically felt my body heat up and quietly wished that the dark lighting would overshadow the blush I had over my face. As the girl (now confirmed), walked over, I fidgeted a little, a little wary of who she was and whether she intended to hurt me or not.

When she finally approached, the silhouette finally cleared up, along with my uneasement, to reveal the beautiful, well refined, moon-lit face of Akemi. Her ivory-white skin glimmered under the moonlight, only emphasizing her beautifully silky and richly-coloured black hair. She bent over and squatted down beside me. As she did so, she brushed the hair that fell over her face behind one ear. A single flower-designed hairpin held up the hair on the other side of her face. Peering at me curiously, she said in her smooth, gentle voice,

"How are you feeling?"

In my awe, I could only nod, as in, 'Yes, I'm fine now'.

She smiled a gentle smile that could melt the coldest of hearts, and then proceeded to hold out her hand. Confused, I looked at her questioningly. As if my reaction was natural, Akemi simply continued to smile while saying,

"My name is Akemi. I'm from class 1-D, with the ChocoFountain squad. What's your name? From your uniform, you're in the same grade as me?"

Confused, I replied thoughtlessly,

"What are you talking about Akemi? I'm-"

Suddenly realizing that I was actually a girl, and that Akemi doesn't know that I'm a girl, I caught myself before continuing,

"I'm...uh...I'm Yuuki. Yuuki Katsuryugi. I'm from 1-B. I'm part of the Stanzettes squad. And yeah, I'm in the same grade as you."

"Oh...I see. So wait, how do you know me? I don't remember you..."

Akemi said with a slightly suspicious tone.

*Shit, gotta clear this up ASAP. It won't do me any good if Akemi figures out I'm Kazuki...*

"Well...um...I said hi to you in the hallways before. O-on multiple occasions. I thought you heard me too."

"Oh...I see."

Although looking slightly skeptical, it seemed as if she accepted my bluff. I internally sighed with relief.

"So anyways, what brings you here? Did the entire 1-B class come too?"

"N-no, not at all. It's just that Ms. Mika invited me to come so I came."

"Oh? Why did she invite you?"

"W-who knows..."

Realizing that I was becoming more and more suspicious, I tried to change the topic.

"So, Akemi, I'll be...rooming with you tonight then?"

"So it appears...you can go to sleep first if you want. I'm going to finish off the chapter I was reading and then head over to sleep."

"A-ah, yeah, alright. That seems good. I guess I'll go to sleep first then. Good night Akemi-chan."

"Mhm, good night."

I quickly slipped back into the covers and turned to face away from Akemi. I heard her get up and shift over back to the table to read. With my heart beating something like 180 beats per minute, I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. However, the moment I closed my eyes, I saw the image of the black box again. I heard a rattling sound from inside the box, and the light continued to peer out from the seams and cracks of the box. Knowing better than to reach for it again, I simply stared with unease.

Suddenly, I felt something slip into the same futon as me. Shocked, my eyes whipped open and I turned around only to see Akemi slipping in beside me. Completely bewildered, but extremely happy, I questioned,

"W-what?"

"Mhm..."

She responded in a tired voice,

"This arrangement was last minute, so we couldn't get our hands on another futon...sorry about that."

"O-oh...I see. No, it's okay. I guess..."

"...mhm..."

Within moments, Akemi slipped into her dreams beside me. I spent the next couple minutes simply staring at her beautiful face, completely in awe. Finally, what broke my concentration, was when Akemi suddenly whispered,

"...zuki. Kazuki...where...were you at dinner today..."

My eyes widened as I realized that she was sleep talking. Completely interested, I continued listening (though feeling a little guilty).

"...Kazuki...idiot..."

I felt like I just got hit by a hammer.

*Ouch...that's harsh Akemi...*

"...I missed you...at dinner...today..."

The hammer blow immediately dissipated. I smiled as I continued to look at Akemi.

"Make up...for it...sometime...Kazuki."

A warm feeling spread through my body and I reached a daring hand and stroked her face. Finally, as a wave of sleepiness washed over me, I slipped back into the futon. Facing the ceiling, I closed my eyes and sleep quickly approached me.

It may have been just my imagination, but just as my consciousness gave out, I felt a hand wrap itself in mine, and a voice whispering,

"Kazuki...I...ve...you..."

*Huh? What was...that...wha...did...say...wh...*

My consciousness slipped away from me as I fell deep into my sleep.

Rough shaking shook my sleep away and my eyes shot open to the nauseating scene of the ceiling shaking in front of me.

"Ugh..."

"Wake up Yuuki! It's time to pack up and leave! We're heading back to school now!"

"Huh? Yuuki? O-oh yeah, Yuuki. Yeah."

Groggily, I staggered upright and walked over to my belongings. Realizing that they've already been packed, or should I have better said, had never been unpacked since my little squabble with Ms. Mika, I heaved it onto my shoulders and got ready to leave. Turning around and searching for Akemi, I saw that she had just finished packing, and was prepared to leave as well.

Turning to me and eyeballing my outfit, she nodded with slight approval before saying,

"Alright! Let's move out!"

"O-osu!"

I cried, feeling that it was appropriate to say so at the moment. Akemi giggled and grabbed my hand and pulled me after her, out into the hallway, and ultimately into the bright sunshine. Due to his immense height, Kyle could be seen at the back of the group of students already gathered, and waved Akemi and I over.

Akemi approached Kyle before asking,

"Hey Kyle. Huh? Where's Kazuki?"

Immediately, Kyle's eyes shot over to me and I glared back, hinting him to stop making it so obvious. Catching himself, I quickly said,

"I...don't know. He disappeared last night. Who's this lovely girl by the way?"

"Yuuki. Yuuki...what was your last name again?"

"Katsuryugi."

"Right. Yuuki Katsuryugi. She's from class 1-B, in the same grade as us. She comes from the squad known as...Skadettes? Or something?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Yeah."

Kyle looked over with an eyebrow raised, and said almost mockingly,

"Ho...? So you're Yuuki Katsuryugi huh? I see. Nice to meet you, Yuuki."

With extra emphasis on the final 'Yuuki', he reached out a hand to shake my hand. Looking suspiciously at his hand, suspecting he'll pull another perverted prank, I refrained from shaking it. With obvious delight, he grinned and said mockingly,

"C'mon, shake it. It's not like I'm going to do anything dirty to you, right? After all...I'm totally not interested in you...if you know what I mean..."

Veritably glaring at Kyle now, I slapped my hands into his and quickly shook it before letting go and wiping my hand on my shirt. Kyle continued to grin at me only to have Akemi stare at us in a confused manner. She finally broke the awkward interaction by saying,

"Well do you know where Kazuki went? I worried for him."

"Oh don't worry, he's perfectly fine. Maybe...minus a few things though...he's otherwise in perfect shape as far as I can tell..."

With a bullet like punch, I socked Kyle in his stomach causing him to collapse. Turned to face Akemi, I quickly covered for myself by saying,

"Uh, Kazuki went back to the school first because he needed another medical check up with Ms. Aiko. Ms. Mika told me last night, but I didn't think you'd have wanted to know."

Clearly showing relief, Akemi smiled and said,

"Ahaha, thanks Yuuki-chan. You're very helpful, unlike-"

Walking over and kicking Kyle in the stomach where I just punched,

"Mr. Smith here."

"Ahaha..."

I laughed awkwardly while watching her lecture Kyle. Suddenly, a voice floated over the crowd, causing all the useless gibber-jabber to fade away.

"Alright class, it's time to head on the bus, back to school!"

Both reluctant to leave but looking forward to the bus ride, we filed onto the large, fancy bus, and settled down, preparing to leave again. I seated myself with Akemi and Kyle. The instant I sat down on the comfortable seat, I immediately drifted off again. The intense course of activities from last night really set a toll on my body, and within minutes, I was asleep again.

Waking up naturally this time, I managed to wake up just as we were a couple minutes away from school. I rubbed my eyes and realized that Akemi and Kyle were both sleeping as well. Smiling, I gently shook Akemi awake. She opened her eyes and smiled back upon realizing that I had helped her wake up. Then, turning to Kyle, I slapped him brutally across the face, instantly waking him up. I growled,

"Get up, you sleeze."

"What the hell Kazu-Yuuki."

Upon catching himself, I quickly correctly my 'name' halfway through saying it. We both glanced at Akemi, and sighed in relief when we realized that she had not heard what Kyle had just said. We quickly grabbed our belongings and headed off the bus.

We quickly strolled back through the school grounds, back into the building, and finally into our classroom. We quickly settle down and begin to chat. However, predicting this predicament, I had not followed the class and had headed straight for the infirmary. Just as I arrived, the announcement system suddenly blared on.

"Ahem. Hello? Hello school population. I have some very exciting news today. In two weeks, the Universal Battle will be held at UMAM, and all planets will send participants over to fight in them. Students who go and fight will be representing their school and planet. Through carefully selecting our top students, we have decided the following students will form a representative team for Earth, to go participate in the Universal Battle. Shizuka Wakana, senior, Rin Tomoko, senior, both from class...and Ayumi Aiko, sophomore, class..."

The announcement system continued to blare and listed the names of 5 students who will represent Earth. Upon hearing Ms. Aiko's name, I widened my eyes in shock and curiosity. I banged open the door to see Aiko sitting on a chair, as if already waiting for me to burst in.

I opened my mouth to ask but she quickly cut me off and said,

"I know what you're wondering, and no. I'm not actually as old as you think I may be. In reality, I really am just one year older than you."

I slowly let the information sink in.

"However, I'm only working here because of convenience; my sister works here too. In reality as well, I've already finished high school. I'm a fully-fledged graduate already. Some call it genius. I just call it normal."

My jaw hung loosely on it's hinges.

"Okay. Now that we've gotten that misunderstanding cleared up, what's up?"

"O-oh...nothing. I just needed some place to camp out for the duration of when I'm still a girl, so I ended up coming here."

"Hm...I see. And what are your thoughts on the Universal Battle?"

"Well...I have faith in my senpai. After all, they are very strong aren't they?"

"Indeed. They truly are a force to be reckoned with. Too bad they won't be going."

"Huh? What?"

"Well, see they've been informed before this announcement was made? And Shizuka, Rin, our Student council Pres and Vice Pres all rejected the offer. They said they were too busy with work or were just uninterested. Now, they did suggest however, that their kouhai will take over for them. The decision that their kouhai will take over their spots was made this morning, and yes. Their kouhai, that is to say, you, Kyle, Akemi, and Haruo, will be filling in for them in this Universal Battle."

In slight shock, I, again, let the information sink in. After waiting a moment, I inquired,

"And how about you? Are you coming?"

"Why of course...why would I decline such a delicious offer?"

"Pfft...that sounds just like you."

I smiled but then immediately frowned and said,

"But how will we be able to be anywhere near capable of fighting? We only have 2 weeks...?"

"Oh, no worries. Rin will personally tutor Kyle, Shizuka to Akemi, the Student council to Haruo, and I will personally train you for the duration of these two weeks. While Rin is strong with Beast magic, I ultimately have much more knowledge than her concerning Beast magic. Also, with my abilities, I will be able to help you progress much faster than Rin will be able to. Yeah?"

"Oh...I see."

"Good. Any questions?"

"Um...do Kyle and Akemi know about this?"

"I imagine they would have been informed by Ms. Mika by now. In private of course."

"Oh I see...and one last thing."

"Mhm?"

Grinning with anticipation, I said,

"When does training start?"

Aiko shot back a similar grin and said,

****"Now."


	12. Hope

"Alright, is everyone gathered here? Yes? Okay good. Well let's get started then."

Kyle, Akemi, Haruo, and I stood in a line, facing our senpais, Rin, Shizuka, Aiko, and the Student Council President and Vice President.

Just to clarify however, I AM a male now. When I returned to the school, Aiko had changed me back. (Thankfully.) And to further clear up misunderstandings, we later told Akemi that Yuuki Katsuryugi had dropped out of school to visit her grandparents on a distant planet, and will most likely not be returning. Akemi accepted this explanation surprisingly easily.

With a loud voice, Rin continued,

"With the authority of the Student Council", she gestures to the members of the Student Council, currently present, "We have successfully gained access to a private set of Virtual Reality Capsules and Mainframe machines. This will mean that we will be able to, quite literally, train you little implings to death without doing any real, physical harm to your bodies. This essentially means that we will be able to train you harder than we normally would have. So I hope you're all mentally prepared for that."

Shizuka, from the side, followed up and continued speaking, "Akemi-chan will be training with me, as usual, and Haruo-kun will train with the Student Council members. There's a slight change up here however; to ensure that all of us will learn the most in these 2 weeks, we, the coaches, have decided to make sure that each person will have their own, private coach. So, Kyle will be training with-"

Kyle suddenly cut her off, and said in a hopeful tone, "Ms. Aiko...?", while sneaking a peek at Aiko.

"-Rin-senpai. Which naturally means Kazuki will be training with Aiko-san."

Kyle fell onto all fours and a cloud of dejection hovered over his body.

"Oh-ho? I see how it is, KYLE-KUN."

Suddenly standing behind him, cracking her knuckles, absolutely dripping with malicious intent, was Rin. Kyle, still on all fours, slowly turned his head around. Entire body shaking in fear, he whispered.

"s-s-s-sorry...?"

As Shizuka continued to explain the aspects of the Universal Battle, Rin dragged Kyle off to the side and gave him a thorough beating. Jets of black magic could be seen shooting out from the dust cloud that enveloped the two. Kyle's incessant screaming, "GYAAAAAAA" could be heard throughout the entire session.

"Anyways, the Universal Battle will take place, like your previous battles, in the VT world. The rules will most likely be the same, where you either fight to the death of until someone concedes. The only difference is that you will be going up against much stronger opponents. There may be a couple rule changes, but I think all of you should be fine. Any questions?"

Looking around and seeing that there were no questions, Shizuka proceeded to say, "Now then, let's get ready for training!" She gestured to Akemi, who happily skipped over to Shizuka. The two seemed to have formed a fairly strong bond. On the other hand, Haruo seemed to be backing away slowing from the Student Council members. As pale as a piece of blank paper and shaking slightly, Haruo continued to back away while shaking his head.

"N-n-no...please...no..."

In an instant, the Student Council members had seized Haruo. The then proceeded to drag Haruo towards an empty, pitch black capsule room. As they did, you could see Haruo kicking, punching, and trying his best to escape and run away. All the time while doing so, screaming at the top of his lungs,

"AHHHHH, NOOOOOOO! STOOOOPPPP! I DON'T WANT TO DIEEEEEEEE!"

His shouts suddenly stopped as the door closed behind him and the Student Council members. A sweat drop rolled down my face as my imagination filled me in on what just and was about to happen. I whisper a silent prayer for Haruo. Suddenly hearing another scream, I turned around to see that Rin had finally finished beating the life out of Kyle. Much like Haruo, basically identical in fact, Kyle was dragged into another empty room. The sight of a slim female dragging a 190+cm tall, well built teenager, kicking and screaming into a dark room was too much for me, and I couldn't help but laugh a little. Finally, I turned around to see that Aiko was already looking at me. She asked,

"Ready?"

"Ready."

I replied, with a determined expression on my face. I walked over to her, past her, and proceeded into the dark room right ahead of me without having her to drag me there. Smiling, Aiko turned around, flourishing her science coat, and followed me in.

I stood in the middle of a dried up plain. Around me, an endless stretch of cracked, dried ground. Not a single patch of grass in sight. Standing a few meters in front of me, was Aiko. With her arms crossed, holding up her voluptuously large chest, science coat billowing behind her, she looked back at me.

"So...Kazuki...what you're saying is that ever since the onsen trip, you've been incapable of using your Beast magic? Or that's what you think is happening?"

"...yeah. I don't know why, but every time I try to use my Beast magic, the Pandora's Box or jar or whatever opens and the next thing I know, I'm on the ground unconscious."

"Hmm...I think this has something to do with your unique Beast magic ability."

"What?"

"You see, every Beast magic user will gain a unique ability that only they can use. For some people, their ability will be very compatible with their body and they can very easily use it. I'm an example. On top of my Beast magic, my unique ability is Mad Doc. I discovered it and was, very quickly, able to use it. Rin however, your senpai, discovered her power Black Blade, and struggled very hard with trying to master it. I believe that you may be in the same situation as Rin-senpai."

"Oh...I see." I said, while sounding slightly dejected.

"However, what's good is that you managed to discover it. This makes things quite a bit easier for me. Alright, to start off, how about you try and open that Pandora's Box while remaining conscious. I'd like to see just a taste of what kind of power you have."

"W-wha-"

"No buts. Just do it."

"Alright..."

For the next 2 hours, I continuously found myself waking up from unconsciousness, with Aiko staring down at me. Finally, after the 37th attempt, Aiko told me to stop.

Aiko sighed heavily before saying,

"Well. This seems quite a bit harder than expected. Looks like Plan A isn't going to work. Straight to Plan B then."

Immediately, her body became surrounded by the signature black aura that Beast Magic users used. She suddenly turned to glare at me, her eyes glinting, as she hissed,

"We're going to fight, and I'm going to drag that shitty power out of you. Forcibly."

"Wha-"

My eyes widened before realizing that she had disappeared.

*Shi-*

I didn't even have time to think twice before leaping forward and dodging a vicious attack by a hair's breadth, struck towards me by Aiko from behind. Immediately switching into Accel 3, I tried my best to keep up with Aiko's speed.

"Oh~? You've got surprisingly good reflexes."

"Thank-"

I was cut off again from dodging another vicious attack, again, by a hair's breadth. A flurry of powerful attacks continuously streamed from Aiko, not giving me a single chance to think about what to do next. The only reason why I'm alive right now was because of my fast reflexes coupled with Accel 3's speed.

*Sh...it...she's...so...fas-*

A sharp attack grazed past my chest, drawing blood, which stained my now torn t-shirt. Sensing intense malignant intent, I leapt back with all I had and landed several meters away from Aiko. Deciding not to pursue me, she stood up straight and looked me dead in the eyes.

"Kazuki, you're doing a great job dodging, but you're never going to get anywhere if you don't fight."

I huffed and gasped for air, "Easy...for you to say..."

She sighed before saying.

"Okay Kazuki. I'm going to get serious now. Try your best not to die too many times."

She vanished and a fraction of a second later, had already torn out my heart, ripped my body in half, and had cleanly decapitated my head. The pain didn't even have time to reach my brain. Just as my vision faded to black, I heard her say,

"That's 1 death."

I suddenly woke up with a start, sitting up again in the dry plains. I looked around, and suddenly felt a murderous aura from behind me. I leapt up, somersaulted forwards, and rolled around to see my attacker. Remembering what had just happened, I saw Aiko almost completely engulfed in Beast magic, ready to butcher me to pieces again.

*Shit...this isn't looking good...*

She then rasped at me,

"You're weak Kazuki, fucking weak. Pathetic. You can't protect jack shit."

Anger flared up inside of me. Unknowingly, the Pandora's Box inside of my began to pulse.

"Both times, you couldn't protect Kyle nor Akemi. You fucking weak piece of shit."

More anger flared inside of me. Without noticing, black characters began to creep around me. Black-ish ink started to creep over my left eye. I hissed at Aiko.

"Grow some balls and admit that you're fucking weak, that you can't do fucking anything in the real world. You seem all impressive now, but just fucking wait till you fight other schools. You'll realize how fucking weak you are. Piece of worthless shit!"

"SHUUUUUT UUUUUPP!" I roared in anger, more black characters creeping around me now. In particular, they started to focus in a small sphere in the middle of my right hand. The Pandora's Box that was pulsating now began to glow. Cracks appeared all over it.

"SEE, YOU SECRETLY KNOW YOU'RE JUST A WEAK PIECE OF SHIT! YOU CAN'T FIGHT, YOU CAN'T DO SHIT! THAT'S WHY YOUR FUCKING PARENTS DIED TOO, BECAUSE THEY'RE WEAK LITTLE SHITS AS WELL!"

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YYYYOOOOOOUUUUU FUUUUCKKKKERRRR!" I screamed before the Beast magic overtook my body. Immediately engulfing the entire right side of my body, a giant, large black ball spun furiously in my right hand. However, unlike the typical black from Beast magic, this black ball had a much more ominous feeling to it. One would instantly be able to tell that this black ball was no ordinary magic. Conscious of this sudden danger, Aiko silenced herself immediately and leapt back, preparing herself for the attack. Still engulfed in rage, the black ball continued to spin violently. Suddenly, it stopped spinning. A pitch black, ominous black ball floated in my right hand. Now unconscious, I said, "The Hope that is to negate - Void.", before hurling the large, black ball at Aiko. She just managed to dodge it by only a few centimeters, before it crashed into the ground. I collapsed on the ground now, still unconscious. Aiko stared at the destruction it created and could only stare in utter fear. The unmoving black ball floated motionless. In it's wake, a perfectly carved path of absolutely nothing. Anything that had come into contact with the black ball had disappeared indefinitely, whether to a different dimension or just completely erased from existance. To herself, Aiko whispered, "The Hope that is to negate...void...", and immediately understood the special ability I contained inside of me.

After standing silently, watching the black ball float, she quickly commanded out a panel, and selected the logout command for both of us. Several hours had passed already, and it was already 8:00pm. Both capsules opened, and Aiko got out, helping me out too. Holding my still unconscious body, she dragged both of us out into the the main room, only to see that Rin, Shizuka, Aiko, Kyle, Haruo, and the Student Council President and Vice President had already finished their pre-dinner training. All looking at the beaten up Aiko and my unconscious self, they immediately began to ask questions to Aiko. She simply gestured them to stop, and the told the coaches to follow her. To Akemi, Kyle, and Haruo, she simply said,

"Sorry guys, but this matter is serious. I'm going to have to discuss this with the coaches. You guys head to dinner first."

Before walking towards the infirmary with the coaches following behind her.

*Ugh...what happened?*

I cracked open one of my eyes and saw a dizzyingly bright light. A strong smell of hand sanitizer filled my nostrils. Quiet talking could be heard through the thin curtain that separated me and the people on the other side. Unable to hear what they were saying, I slowly sat up and held my throbbing head.

Suddenly, memories flooded into my head as I remembered what had happened. I stood up immediately but only collapsed back on the bed from light-headedness. Suddenly, the curtain whipped open and I saw Aiko staring at me. Behind her, the coaches, Rin, Shizuka, the Student Council, and the principal sat around a square tea table. They all turned around to stare at me. Sitting up again, carefully this time, I ask,

"Um...how did it go? I remember fighting you and then things got fuzzy. I remember getting really angry or something...what happened?"

Aiko sighed and responded,

"I did a test on you to attempt to draw out your ability. It worked a little too well though...I almost died."

My eyes widened. She continued,

"So it seems, your unique Beast ability is the ability to use the Void. This power is triggered by anger supposedly, but we're assuming that this power is more strongly linked to how powerful your emotions are at the time. Not only that, you need to have activated your Beast magic to access this unique ability. Supposedly at least."

"Huh? What's the ability to use the Void...?

"Void is essentially the power to make anything null. You can basically erase anything you'd like from existence."

I stared at Aiko as the information sank in.

"Furthermore, we believe that there may be more to your power than just the Void. From what I recall, before you activated your Void, you said something like, 'Hope, the power that is to negate - void.'. This makes sense too, since you supposedly have the Pandora's Box within you. As religion states, the final item in the Pandora's Box, or Jar, was Hope. This could very much so be linked to your power, where the final item left in your Pandora's Box is your unique ability - which also happens to be hope. But back to the point however, there are two kinds of hope you see. The hope of negation, something like, "I hope I'll never have to write that test" or "I hope this will never happen." The hope of negation, which then we could link to the power of Void, which can negate the existence of anything. But then there's the hope of realization. The hope that something DOES happen. "I hope I can win the lottery this time" or "I hope my birthday gift is a laptop." This is the hope of realization, which from our discussion, we've hypothesized will become the power of Creation. The supposed 'Left Hand of God', also known as Gabriel, who supposedly took out the world's very first soul from the treasury and brought it into existence through the Angel of Conception. What we believe is that your counterpart power is the power to create anything, to bring anything you'd like into existence."

My head started to spin from all the information.

*What? Hope? Power to negate and the power to create? Negating existence? Bringing about something from nothing? That's scientifically impossible though...?*

"It's true that it's scientifically impossible for one to create something, to bring into existence, something without sacrificing something. And since your ability, the Creator, is such a large power that even reaches into the realms of deities and Gods, we're expecting the cost for such a power to be very large. For this reason, we will force it out of you and see what kind of power it is, and what the cost of using it is."

"O-oh..."

"Good. Any questions? I'd assume not though. At least for now. I've overloaded you with a lot of information. Head down to have dinner, Akemi and Kyle are waiting for you most likely."

"O-okay. And post-dinner training is still up right?"

"Yes, for sure. We're going to force out your counterpart power after dinner. Come mentally prepared Kazuki, we're expecting much from you."

"O-Osu!"

"Mhm! Okay, you may go."

I stand up, bow, and excuse myself politely from the rest of the group present. Running down the hallways and staircases, I headed straight for the dining room.

Huffing and puffing, I reached the partially filled dining room and looked around. I quickly located Kyle and Akemi, and rushed over to sit down. As I sat down, Kyle and Akemi quickly hound onto me, shooting questions at me like a machine gun.

"Oi Kazuki! What was that all about? You came outta there lookin' all beaten up! What'd you guys talk about?"

"Yeah, Kazuki! Tell us!"

"Did something happen? We're your friends, you can always tell us these things."

"Kazuki...?"

As Kyle looked at me questioningly, Akemi placed her hands on top of mine. I pause for a moment, thinking.

*Should I tell them that I have a unique ability that is extremely dangerous not only to others but to myself as well? I can't even control it that well too...and I think this is a private matter between me and my senpais...I don't know. I think I'll keep it a secret for now...I'll tell them later I guess.*

I shook my head and smiled absently, saying in a faraway tone,

"Oh...nothing much. We didn't really talk about anything..."

"Oh...I see."

"But feel free to tell us anything if it's bothering you...okay?"

Turning to Akemi to answer her question, I smiled and replied,

"Okay."

Before wrapping my arms around her for a brief moment. Information and memories still swirling in my head, I couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed at the moment. After remaining in embrace for a few seconds, I quickly let go and smiled apologetically.

"Haha...sorry about that. I'm just a bit...tired."

Turning to my food and finishing the final morsels, I quickly get up and excuse myself from the table. Akemi stayed frozen in surprise while Kyle followed my with his eyes as I left the cafeteria.

"He's definitely hiding something...Akemi?"

"H-huh?"

"Dude, don't get all flustered from a simple hug. Jeez..."

"W-W-WHATCHU TALKIN' ABOUT? I-I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU-"

"Okay, okay. Don't shout..."

"H-hmph."

"In the meantime, we should probably get going too. Rin and Shizuka are probably waiting."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

Getting up as well, the two of the walked out of the cafeteria after me.

I found myself facing the familiar, orange, warm-feeling sky again. I sat up, and saw the plains I trained on just this afternoon. After standing up, I turned around to see Aiko waiting for me again. She looked at me and I smiled back.

"I'm ready whenever you are."

"Alright then, let's get started."

"Okay. What do I do?"

"This time, it'll be very simple. In your mind, you can see the Pandora's Box. However, instead of just trying to draw out magic, reach into it and reach for the light. Try to get whatever power there is that is the light inside the box, okay?"

"Okay. I'll go for it."

I closed my eyes, and as the darkness swirled around, suddenly saw the black box. As clear as day, the black box stayed motionless, facing me. A gentle humming sound could be heard from the box. I walked over to it, and placed my hand on it's cool, hard surface. The box slowly opened, and instantly, I found myself engulfed in all sorts of pain, horror, anger, fear, betrayal, and other similar sort of things. I screamed in pain and immediately let go and found myself panting on the ground. Beside me, Aiko sat panting as well. Covered in wounds for that fact of matter.

I quickly sit up and ask her,

"Woah, what happened?"

"You...went a little crazy there...with your Beast magic...ugh."

She groaned and coughed up a little blood. Wanting to help, I went over to her only to have her stop me. She growled, continue with training Kazuki, I can deal with this much.

"O-okay."

I sat down and closed my eyes again. Seeing the box, I prepared myself. I reached over and plunged myself into the abyss of Hell. Reaching in further and further, I came fairly close to the source of the light before I was completely submerged in pain, only to find myself awake again, on the ground, beside a heavily wounded Aiko.

The process repeated itself until the 6th time, I finally grasped it. My eyes shot open as the pupils had completely changed colour. The entire geometry of my eye had changed into something else, far more extraordinary. My left arm, completely covered in light, pulsated quietly.

Aiko, who was panting beside me, grinned

"Good job Kazuki. Okay, now try and make something. Something not too big. So the consequences aren't so large."

"Okay."

I quickly thought of a block of rock. Immediately a block of rock appeared in front of me, just as I had imagined. Only a small jolt of pain coursed through my left arm, and was immediately gone. I continued to test things out, such as different shaped rocks, bigger rocks, many rocks at a time, etc. However, everything went wrong when I accidentally wished for a simple, small flower. Pain screamed throughout my body as blood coursed out of my mouth. I collapsed on the floor screaming in pain as my entire body contracted and expanded. Aiko, to the side, attempted to help me but could not do anything to my heavily spasming body. Finally, after 20 minutes of non-stop, excruciating pain, the pain finally subsided. In front of me, a pathetic but nevertheless same, very of the flower I had imagined. I immediately passed out.

When I woke up again, I found myself inside the infirmary again. This time however, only Aiko was present. I sat up carefully, and turned to her. She looked at me sternly.

"Kazuki...You are never to use that power ever again. Do you hear me?"

"H-huh?"

"I said, don't use that power ever again. Okay?"

"Um..okay? Why?"

"The fuel that your power runs on, this I'm sure of, is your life-force. The bigger and more complex thing you cry to create out of nothing, the more it will eat away at your life."

My eyes widened in fear.

"The reason why you had that very painful session in the VT world was because you attempted to create life. This trespassed into the dimension of God, and so you were theoretically 'punished'."

"Oh..."

"So, I have taken the liberty of removing your current seal,"

She pulled out the cross I had always worn around my neck,

"And am going to change it to a seal that will be able to seal this power of yours. I'm almost done though. I've put a temporary seal on your Beast magic, but you won't be needing that soon, since you've got enough control of it already."

"I-I see."

A few moments later, Aiko returned with a glove. My cross was embedded on the glove, and the chain that once held it around my neck now hung loosely around the glove. I quickly took it and slipped it onto my left hand. It fit comfortably.

After seeing that it works and fits nicely, Aiko said to me sternly,

"I'm going to release the seal on your Beast magic now. This means that you will have no trouble getting into percents up to even 50%. It's quite dangerous, but you should be able to restrain yourself enough I think. Get ready okay?"

I nod. With a few illegible words and a couple gestures, she removed the seal.

Instantly, I felt a flood of energy course through my body. I collapse on the bed hold my body and moaning. Aiko looked at me with surprise and exclaimed,

"W-what the...your seal wasn't sealing only your Beast magic...it was sealing your magic capacity as well. All this time, you've only had 20% of your total capacity...this is incredible."

After the awkward feeling subsided, I sat up.

"Why would someone seal away my magic capacity though..."

After pondering a moment, Aiko replied,

"The person who sealed away your capacity was probably taking a precaution. You know how Accel 4 or 5 caused your seal to break and your Beast magic to overflow? The person was probably thinking that by using so much magic, it would be very likely for the seal to break and for all of your Beast magic to flow out. So by sealing 80% of your magic capacity, you've effectively made your physical self much more stable. At least that's what I think happened..."

"Oh...I see. I guess that makes sense. So wait, now that my magic capacity is back full..."

"Yes. All your magic abilities will have been boosted by 500%. Be careful...this is a very big jump in power for you...be wary of your new power..."

"A-alright."

After an awkward silence, Aiko finally snapped.

"Grwahhhhh! This is so annoying! What's with the serious mood? What's with this heavy atmosphere! Ahhh!"

I sat down vulgarly into a folding chair beside my bed and kicked up both her feet beside me on the bed. She yawned and said,

"Alright Kazuki. Cheer up kiddo. You can go home now, get a lot of rest eh? Or do you want to stay here with Onee-chan? Mhhm?"

Looking at me with a naughty expression while purposely emphasizing the size of her chest, I couldn't do anything but stare and blush. After a pause, she laughed,

"Haha! Kazuki you're so cute! Onee-chan is sorry for messing with you. Go back now mhm? I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Ah...okay."

I said cautiously. As I was about to get up, I felt her put her arms around me, holding me in place. She whispered into my ear,

"Onee-chan likes strong men yeah...?"

A wave of goosebumps rolled over my body and I shuddered. I whipped around.

"A-A-Aiko sensei! That's i-inappropriate!"

"Haha! Just joking, just joking. Tomorrow we'll be honing in your ability to use Void magic alright? And the Universal Battle allows weapons, so Rin and I will be taking shifts in teaching you. Rin will teach you sword basics and I'll teach you how to use your Void magic. Other than that, hurry up and go home. Get some rest! Don't stay up too late with Akemi-chan...if you know what I mean..."

She winked at me. Not understanding what she said, I replied

"O-okay..."

She smiled kindly at me and I quickly excused myself and hurried home. On the way back, I suddenly realized what Aiko meant and blushed heavily. I muttered to myself

"Not like that's ever going to happen...maybe..."

****I ran off into the darkness towards where my dorm was located.


End file.
